A Tale of Gods and Kings
by Black Scepter
Summary: Link, the Chosen Hero of Hyrule, is loved and reveled by all, none more so than Princess Zelda. But when a series of chaotic events begins to threaten Hyrule, the lines between the heroes and the demons they rise to fight will blur and the balance of power in Hyrule will never again be the same.
1. Prologue

This is a story I've been working on for awhile now and it certainly doesn't take place in any of the games, but is more of a mesh of the games in a world with a darker overtone. Anyway, enjoy the prologue of a Tale of Gods and Kings.

* * *

The Princess

He was nervous, she could see it so clearly by the way he tossed and turned throughout the night. Even when sleep would find favor with him it would be so brief that he would quickly be pulled out of it, eyes opening wide and muscles tensing as if he was awakening to the sound of warfare. But at this hour the castle was near dead silent, aside from the scuffle of the mice that would dart along the stone flooring or the occasional guard doing his rounds by their door, there was not a noise to be heard.

Yet to her husband the mice scuffling along the floor was an assassin slitting the throats of his friends and the guard doing his duty was the sound of a million marching soldiers approaching.

He had admitted to her that at times he felt scared, lost and out of control with everything around him. He saw shadows when there were none and enemies in friends. She didn't want him feeling alone, she'd hug him and rest her head on his chest and sometimes that would seem to help him sleep.

She felt his arms wrap around her as his groggy voice spoke out, "My Princess," he said as he gently ran his hands through her long blonde hair, "I have kept you awake. I apologize..."

"There is nothing to be sorry for," she whispered back, "Now sleep, my brave hero. There are no terrors here."

He did not sleep and she drifted in and out of it. It was nearly an hour later that he slipped out from underneath her, throwing back the covers as he sat at the edge of their bed. She scooped up the extra covers as the cold night air bit at her skin and watched as the moon light shined through the open windows and illuminated the figure of her husband. He was a built man, every groove his muscles created was shadowed deeply by the moonlight. He stood at 5'9 and had soft, wavy blonde hair that was brushed backwards and fell about halfway down his neck. With his hair brushed back his sharp Hylian ears were very apparent. The Ordona Province held little to no Hylians (the old blood), most of province was populated with humans that came from the great sea.

Prince of the Ordona Province, Link Daku, Chosen Hero and married to Princess Zelda of Hyrule. They had been married no more than a year but spent maybe six months together, as a man who carries the title of Chosen Hero was expected to lead the fight against intruders of the realm. Link had done his duty diligently, riding off with his Knights at the slightest hint of monstrous intrusion. The people loved him and so did Zelda, but the people couldn't see the weight he carried and pain he felt.

Link stood up and walked across their room to the great balcony that overlooked the kingdom below. Opening the door that divided the balcony and their room allowed small wisps of cold night air to infiltrate their room. It signified its presence with a light rustle from the curtain and Zelda quickly pulled the blankets further up over her face to prepare for the cold. Link did not shiver when the cool wind swept into the chambers nor did he reach for any sort of extra covering, instead he stepped out onto the balcony that overlooked the city below.

His gaze stared off into the distance as the moonlight wrapped itself around Link's scarred figure. Each time he would ride off to fight he would return home with more scars, the wounds may have healed but Link did not. It had been a long time since she saw Link smile the way he used to or have the life in his eyes as he once did. The glow was fading...

Zelda slid out of bed and braved the cool air to join her husband out on the balcony. She did not immediately walk up to him nor speak a word that would have broken his gaze. Instead she leaned against the cool stone walls and watched him silently. She felt a pull in her heart, an ache that grew with every passing second and for a brief moment she felt like Link was being taken away from her again. Her body began to shake, ' _the cold'_ she thought to herself at first but the tears that ran down her face said otherwise.

Link's gaze had been broken and he turned to see Zelda standing behind him, her arms wrapped around herself as a form of comfort and her entire body shivering as she cried in near silence. She didn't know exactly why she was crying and she felt foolish for doing so. Weak was what she felt like and when all Zelda wanted was to be strong for him this was the worst possible feelings to have.

Zelda twisted her body away from Link and went to go back to their bed, only to be stopped as Link reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Zelda," Link said, his blue eyes wide with worry but before he could mutter another word Zelda buried her face in his chest.

"Don't leave. There are other Knights that can go and fight, Lords that have pledged loyalty to my family and would gladly take this honor. You don't have to leave," Zelda cried softly to him. "I fear that... I fear that you won't come back if you leave me!"

Link wrapped his arms around her, she felt his breathing slow before he took one deep breath. "I'm coming back..." he whispered as he rested his head upon hers, "I promise you that I will."

His words did little to comfort Zelda's fears and she wanted to scream at him to stay. But she spoke no other words, words that would fall deaf upon the ears of the Chosen Hero, a man that pledged his life and sword to the Kingdom of Hyrule. Had he not forgotten the fact he pledged his life to her as well?

On this bright, silent night the Princess cried in the arms of her husband. Knowing that come tomorrow he would ride off with his Knights to fight the Bulblin far off on the edge of their realm. He would die there, whether he came back or not didn't matter...

The next morning Zelda watched from afar as Hyrulean knights assembled below. They were fantastic looking, none more so than her husband who headed the pack. Dressed in his gilded armor with the red Hyrulean colors beneath it, he pulled himself upon his stead and gave one last look back at the Princess and the maidens who stood with her.

Many of the women amongst Zelda were in tears – many of their husbands were among the knights marching off. However unlike the previous night Zelda cried no tears, it was different now, in the public's eyes she had to remain strong. Even if fear and sadness cried out within her.

Link said no words, he only dipped his head low to his wife and Princess before riding off through the gates and into the cheering crowd within the town. The people were excited by it all, the great knights riding off to fight for the realm was what fairy tales were made of.

"Be safe my love," Zelda said softly. She would remain standing there until Link and his army was out of sight before resigning herself to the Temple of Time to pray...

* * *

The Kid

The army was a spectacular sight. Three hundred Hyrulean knights and perhaps a thousand foot soldiers marched from Central Hyrule out towards the Ordona Province. That number quickly swelled, after all the army was being led by none other than the Chosen Hero himself! Sell-swords and other Lords pledged their services and joined the army, everyone wanted to indulge in the glory that followed the Chosen Hero. Kid had tried countless times to get a count of everyone but after several attempts he had given up and preoccupied himself by tending to his duties as a squire of the Chosen Hero.

Kid of the Faron Province – or maybe Ordona Province? He wasn't entirely sure – had known Link long before he became Chosen. Link was one of the few people that ever treated the disfigured orphan with any sort common decency and they had been close for as long as Kid could remember.

That being said, Kid was not of any sort of higher blood like many of the other squires and despite the fact he squired for the CHOSEN HERO he was still not often treated well by the others. That was fine, he really didn't like anyone else, Link was the only friend he needed.

The fun of the entire journey soured as they neared the Ordona Province, word that the Bulblins were raiding deep within the Hyrulean Empire sped their pace. The Bulblin – a nomadic people spread far out beyond Hyrule's claim – would occasionally sending a raiding party into their territory. However, the Bulblin had been united under a self proclaimed 'King' that claimed land far into Hyrule's domain.

"We will have to kill them all." Sir Valenzuela of Hyrule proclaimed over a heated meeting one night between Link, the Lords, and his closest knights. Kid, who was watching from the corner of the tent found it hard to read the thought's of his closest friend, who spoke little during the meeting. There wasn't a man there that would disagree with Valenzuela, they would have to kill this so-called King and make an example of those who trespassed into Hyrule domain.

Kid has no doubt Link could do it of course. He was probably the finest warrior to grace these lands, and Bulblin were foolish, disorganized creatures that would break easily once the full might of this army came crashing down on them.

They reached the Ordona Province by the second week. They were joined up by a small force from the Province's largest city, Ordon. Afterward, with up to date knowledge of the Bulbin's latest movements they continued their march through the wooded province. It was judged that the Bulblin were two days away, still preoccupied with raiding small farms and villages at the edge of Ordona.

They made camp and would march again in the morning, eager to break the barbarians and rid the realm of their terror. That night the camp was alive and roaring like the first few days of this long journey. It was pure insanity down in the lower sections where sell-swords and foot soldiers feasted on Ordonian chicken and pumpkin ale, while the lords and mayors who had come to join Link feasted further into the camp on Ordonian sheep and drank fine wine from regions of Hyrule's domain that not even Kid had heard of.

Part of Kid wished to take part of the feasts and get drunk of pumpkin ale, but then he'd had to listen to the hurtful jests men would make about his face or small and bony figure. He decided he'd stay by Link and that would be better for the both of them.

"They will not battle us conventionally," Link said over the dinner he barely touched, "We will have to break our army up and root them out. Once we push them out of our domain and back into their homeland we can ride against them in our greatest force."

"Indeed, these raiding parties would be impossible to catch in our current state," agreed the Grand Lord of the Ordona Province, a great large human with a trimmed gray mustache and round fat belly. The Grand Lord was from the House of Bo, richest and most powerful family in the Province. Kid didn't like him, he reminded him of everything he hated about this province.

"Grand Lord Bo," Sir Valenzuela began after lightly sipping his wine. Valenzuela – like Link – was Hylian, with his long blonde hair and pointed ears the man was a maiden's dream. "Are you sure the information we have is the most recent? I had heard the Bulblin were far more powerful and I would have thought they would be much further into the Province by now. Your men claim they still hunt in the outer edges of the Province?"

The Lord didn't much like the suggestion the knight had made, "Of course I'm sure about the information. We have our scouts everywhere and if they were advancing in any faster pace I would have known."

"I meant no insult my Lord," Valenzuela bowed his head, "We had just heard many rumors about this so called King... that he rides with thousands of Bulblin."

"True enough," the Lord nodded, "However disorganized. They attack small farming villages, they don't have the capacity to attack anything larger! They're weak."

"They're burning your land." Link finally spoke in his cool voice, "Killing your men and feasting on your children. You claim they're weak, yet as far as I can tell you've kept your army mustered around the capital. Why is that?"

"I am insulted by your suggestion-"

"Good as it was meant to insult." Kid suppressed a smile at Link's words. Link had a distaste for the House of Bo as much as Kid did. Ordona was a simple, poor province yet the lavish lifestyle they led was distasteful. Grand Lord Bo rarely left the capital, he didn't know his province any better than Valenzuela did, and Valenzuela had never even been here before.

Lord Bo wished to scream at Link, Kid could see it in the fat man's face. Link was from a family of warriors, an old but poor bloodline. Had Link not been married to the Princess of Hyrule – Lord Bo's sovereign – he might have called for Link's head by now.

"Our information is good, Chosen Hero," the Lord finally spoke having suppressed his rage.

The rest of the dinner had little chatter and when they finished the many smaller lords and knights disappeared out of the tent. Leaving only Link and Kid.

"You didn't eat very much," Kid motioned for the mostly untouched plate of food in front of his friend.

"Ah..." Kid's words seemed to break Link out of his own thoughts. He looked at his food and gave a small chuckle, "I can't stand the mutton."

"Well they only served chicken to us squires..." they traded glances and Link slid the plate over to Kid.

"Help yourself." and Kid did just that, seated himself beside Link and dug into the mutton.

Between bites of the meat and chugs of the wine, Kid glanced over at his older friend. "What has you so down? You will see the Princess soon!"

"...do you remember the day I was chosen, Kid?" Link asked, the shadow from the flickering flame casting itself over Link's solemn face.

"Like it was yesterday," It was a dark day. Link and Kid had just come back from working the fields when there were plumes of smoke rising from Link's family home. They raced in to find his house aflame, Bulblin raiders feasting on his younger sister. Kid was struck with fear and fled into the nearby woods, but Link – not actually named Link at the time - went forward into the flaming house, took his father's blade and cut down the three beasts with such fury and skill. It was known Bulblin raiders had entered the province, yet the Grand Lord did nothing about it – as he does now.

Several days later servants of the church found Link and brought him back to Hyrule to be tested. Kid wasn't sure what happened from there but when Link returned to the Ordona Province he had a new name, a new title and a beautiful new sword around his back.

"I hate them, Kid..." Link seethed, "They're beasts... and they took everything from me..." He tightened his grip around the arm of his chair. "I know who I am, a Chosen Hero, man of courage... but since I left all I can think about is her face..."

Kid couldn't say a word, yet he could see the face too. His parents were killed, burned in the house, but Link's sister was... mauled by the Bulblin. After Link had killed her attackers he cradled his little sister in his hands, her porcelain skin stained red by her blood and her blue eyes pale and dead. Kid wept with Link and helped bury them that day... Kid never knew his parents and never much gave them thought, Link and his family were as close to a family as he ever had.

"I will kill them all, Kid." Link said with a nod, "For my mother... for my father... for my sister... Ordona will never be violated again."

It had been a long time since he had seen such fury in his friend's eyes. Kid's appetite was lost. He feared what his friend might do...

He went to bed thinking of that day and dreamed of how he ran from it all. He could hear the screams in his head over and over... yet it occurred to him that he had never heard her scream. They had found her after she was already dead... so what was the screaming he was hearing?

Kid stirred awake but the screams did not stop. Suddenly the piercing sound of horns blew through the air... not Hyrulean horns, nor Ordonian... they were Bulblin horn's...

Madness had overtaken the camp, and when Kid stepped out of the tent his face was blinded by the warmth of the sun. No, not the sun – flames! A nearby tent sparked with flames, and over the vast encampment more flames rose high.

"No, no..." Kid muttered under his breath, over the horizon he could see the flames of what seemed like thousands of torches and soldiers marching upon them. Already it appeared the camp's outer defenses were being overrun.

Kid ran from his tent over to the massive one Link had, where the royal family's seal flew proudly over.

"Kid, Kid where are you!?" Link's voice roared over the chaos. Kid spotted him just exiting the tent, wearing his green tunic and holding his sheathed blade.

"Kid, there you are. Fetch my horse, quickly!"

"Your armor-"

"Not enough time, my horse now!"

Kid scrambled, rushing to the nearby stable they had erected where flames were already catching on.

Outside it was nearly impossible to see what was going on, but the camp was being attacked on all ends and they were quickly being overrun.

Kid pushed into the stable, finding Link's beautiful brown war horse and pulling it out. "Come now, come stop fighting!" He yelled, pulling on the horse. The massive beast reared up and Kid dropped to the ground, sure the horse would run him down and kill him.

"To me!" Link's voice called and the horse stopped before quickly galloping away to his side. Link pulled himself upon the horse, briefly stroking it's long mane before pulling it towards the north point of the camp.

"Around me, gather around me!" Link called. The men who were consumed in the chaos seemed to hear his voice and those who could quickly gathered around Link's side. "If we fail now it's not just us who will perish. They will overrun this Province, they will tarnish and rape our realm. To me now! To me! We must prevail!" Link unsheathed his sword, the grand sword of legend, the Master Sword. Such a finally crafted blade of the gods, the light it unleashed was so spectacular that it seemed to shoot a light up to the heavens.

"Chosen Hero!" The men around him roared, the humming light of the Master Sword was like the light prevailing against the darkness.

Kid stood at the edge of the stable, eyes wide as he watched Link raise the sword high into the was like that day again, Link rushed forward to fight while Kid stayed hidden. He knew why he was chosen, Link had bravery like no other man. He would succeed today...

Link galloped off followed by the men around him towards the thousands of torches in the distance. Over the horizon Kid could see the sun begin to rise where the Bulblin were rushing down from. Among them, even from this distance he could see, one so large and fearsome watching down at them...

It was the King Bulblin, Kid had no doubt. He found himself smiling, the so called King would meet his match now and he knew that by the end of the day Link would have his head.

He was the Chosen Hero after all.

In the chaos still, Kid pushed from the stables. He found himself rushing after Link, eager to see the Hero ride against the monsters. It wouldn't be like before! He would be beside his friend, he would help him fight.

Kid found a sword and rushed as close behind as he could. He had never killed anything but the fish in the river, but the glow of the Master Sword gave him more strength and courage than anything he had seen before! He didn't even notice when he stepped into the pass of a runaway horse...

He did feel the blunt force as the horse trampled over him and sent him flying off to the side. He couldn't remember a thing after that...

He wasn't sure what he felt first, the dreadful heat from the midday sun or the pungent smell of death. Kid opened his eyes and tried his best to look around, soldiers walked among the camp, tired and blood covered they seemed to beginning to march away.

He stirred, trying to pulling himself up but several broken ribs and an arm kept him in his place. He was lucky, he should have been dead after being trampled by such a mighty beast.

"How in the name of the goddess are you still alive?" Kid glanced over to his right to see a wart covered face staring back at him. "Shit... I was gonna take your stuff too. You feel like dyin' any moment now?"

"Screw off..." Kid hissed, the foot soldier chuckled before returning with his fellow soldiers.

There were still soldiers here, that was a good sign. Must have mean they won.

Ignoring the pain he felt, Kid pulled himself up, he had to find Link and make sure he was safe. "Where is Link, where is the Chosen Hero?" Kid asked moving from soldier to soldier with no answer.

"By the goddess where is he!?" There was death everywhere. Countless soldiers laid dead, Bulblin among them and the heat of the day made the smell near impossible to withstand.

Among the marching soldiers Kid could see the flag of the Royal Family flying high, that had to be Link! He raced as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Link, Link!" Kid called running to the front of the party to where he could see a blonde on horseback at the helm.

Yet it was not Link. Instead it was Valenzuela, blank faced and holding a bloodied spear. "Sir Valenzuela!" Kid called.

"Eh..." Valenzuela barely paid Kid a glance.

"Where is Link? Where is he?"

Valenzuela did not respond.

"Where is he!?" Kid repeated once again, louder this time and halting the knight.

Valenzuela glanced down at Kid, looking the boy over briefly. "He has fallen."

Kid couldn't have believed those words. No, that was not possible, that couldn't be possible!

"Lies!" Kid roared with anger that he did not even know he had. He took two steps forward towards Valenzuela before receiving a sharp blow to his broken ribs by a nearby foot soldier.

"Not another step, freak!" The soldier spat.

Kid fell to his knees, yelping out in pain. "Sir, please, sir what happened? Please you must be mistaken, you must!"

"If only I were..." Valenzuela said with a shake of his head. The knight was still clearly in shock from the battle, "He gravely wounded the King however, winning us the day. We will pursue them and finish it off..."

"It's not possible-"

"The Chosen One has fallen!" Valenzuela roared, "Not get out of my sight. He may have kept you around for nostalgia but you are nothing to me. You have no place among my army."

Valenzuela pushed the horse forward and the army followed with him. Kid stayed on the ground, crying out and not daring to get up as the rest of the army passed him.

 _My friend, my brother. Oh by the goddess I have failed you, I'm so sorry Link... I'm so sorry..._

Kid cried out. The realm would mourn this loss, the Princess will be broken... the Chosen Hero fallen. Oh Goddess, how heroic he was, how great he was. Stories would be told for centuries of this day, none however would tell about how the deformed orphan cried out for his fallen brother...

His friend, his brother, gone. A life gone, a legend over...

For another to begin...


	2. Part One Chapter One

First of all, thanks for all the feedback for the prologue! Second, I wanted to address a couple things - the world this takes place in is a combination of many different games, as such a brief explanation is needed (I intend to post a more in depth look but a brief overview will serve for now). There are fourteen provinces that make up Hyrule's Domain (I will interchange that term with Empire often). A brief list is - Province of Hyrule, The Plateau (sometimes called the Old Province), Eldin (which is the largest), Akkala, Lanayru, Great Bay, the Zora Principality, Wood Fall, East Necluda, West Necluda, Termina, Faron, Ordona, Hebra and the island province of Koholint.

Most of these are governed by a Grand Lord, typically Hylian but some Humans, with the exception of Lanayru, Great Bay and Zora Principality which are governed by Zora Princes. All of which answer to the Royal Family of Hyrule. A more proper list with detailed location of the provinces will likely come later as it's a great deal of information to sort through.

Finally, I'd like to note that all main characters that the story surrounds are NOT original, each one is a character from a game, although some may have slightly different names (usually a reference off an aspect of a character) they're all characters from the games. The story will primarily four characters, three featured in this chapter and the other in the next.

Anyway, many thanks for any continued support and enjoy the first chapter.

* * *

The Princess

Five Years Later

Utter silence filled the north wing of the Temple of Time, the oldest section of the temple and considered to be one of the holiest areas in the Kingdom. It was said, after all, to be the location where the triforce was left after the three goddesses departed from their world. It was not a place often frequented due to its holy nature, except of course for the Princess Zelda, a woman considered to be a reincarnate of the Goddess Hylia – the protector of Hyrule.

Zelda raised her head, looking around the old interior of the room; light leaked through the seven stain glass window that depicted seven sages (ancient guardians of the realm), covering the old stone room in an array of colors that gave the room an almost calming feeling. There was a great stone statue with an alter, showing the Goddess Hylia holding the Trifroce in her hands and gazing down at a pedestal where once the ancient Master Sword had stood. Every time Zelda's gaze passed the place the old sword was supposed to be she felt a rage and sadness build within her, it had been five years since her husband was killed on the edge of the realm and still nobody could find the ancient sword – much less actually find the body of her lost love. This temple had been home to the blade on the 'gap years' in which there was no declared chosen for hundreds of years, yet now it was just an empty room full of old relics.

Zelda stood from the alter and turned around, her legs felt weak and she almost tumbled down the stone steps like a drunk fool. ' _How long was I praying for?'_ Zelda asked herself as she felt her legs regain strength. She prayed for what she prayed for everyday, a return of Link's body, blade and the death to all the Bulblin.

"Princess?" The soft voice of her servant called out to her. The servant was a lady from House Lon-Lon, the House was a modest one that served the royal family very well and produced some of the finest stallions in the region (perhaps, only rivaled by humans of House Romani) and their loyal service had earned them service with the royal family. She had wide eyes, red hair and bore all the Hylian features of porcelain skin and sharp ears.

"Lady Lon-Lon," Zelda addressed as the girl bowed her head.

"I did not mean to interrupt."

"You did no such thing," the Princess assured the young lady.

"Thank you, Princess, I have come to inform you of a visitor."

"Here?" Most would have waited for her back at the castle, which certainly perked her interest.

"Prince Gustaf has returned from the Eldin Province and wishes to see you," Prince Gustaf was her uncle, younger brother to the King and probably one of the brightest men Zelda knew. He has served her father loyally for as long as she could remember, and for the last decade he served as the chief diplomat of Hyrule.

"I won't keep him waiting any longer," Zelda replied before Lady Lon-Lon quickly cleared the way for the Princess to walk. This part of the Temple of Time kept the common visitor far away, only attendants of the temple and her own personal Sheikah guard were wondering the halls today. The Sheikah guard escorted the Princess to the temple gardens, where the bright skies and chirping birds were a welcome change from the dingy, cold halls of the temple.

Her uncle was seated on a stone bench by the pond, his old eyes gazing lazily down onto the water. The man, was by any definition, magnificent – his blonde, peppered gray hair was pulled back in a tight bun while his beard was kept perfectly trimmed, his form (despite his age) was well kept and sitting in his woolen purple cloak and deep brown tunic, he was fashionable by Hyrulean standards.

"Princess!" Her uncle exclaimed as he finally caught sight of his niece, he stood from the bench and walked over, giving a proper bow that Zelda returned kindly.

"Uncle," she replied with a warm smile, "I have not seen you for months."

"Ah, yes, diplomacy amongst the Goron people is a time consuming event by absolutely any standard." He chuckled softly. "I will say that I have never been happier to return to the capital. I have longed for civilization."

"Well I know the people are most thankful for your service." The Goron were troubling people, broken off into several different large tribes it was always hard for Hyrule to get any sort of unified agreement from all of them. Zelda had been kept at the capital for many reasons and had not really seen the realm her family ruled, so she was always curious to learn more "Tell me about your travels."

The two of them took seat by the pond, "Well the Eldin Province is the single largest province within our realm, hundreds of mountains that rise entirely too high. The most difficult thing about it, is how hard it can be to breath at first."

"Breath?" Zelda asked almost astonished.

"Yes, it takes time for your lungs to adjust to the altitude. It was a dreadful time." Her Uncle nodded, "Yet the talks went well. I believe we have settled trade conflicts and we have been assured that the iron and other minerals will continue to flow down the mountains."

"Father will be pleased. Perhaps someday I will see Eldin, would the Goron like that?"

"No doubt, there is a special place in the hearts of the Goron people for the royal family." Gustaf said with a knowing nod. His face then grew rather concerned, "How does the King fair?"

The concern was mirrored on Zelda's own face, but for only a moment before she pushed it away, "His muscles ache daily and he complains of the food."

"Complains?"

"That is bothers his stomach," She explained, "But everyday he sees to his duties despite the doctor's wishes. He is headstrong and will not be stopped."

"As always," Gustaf chuckled, "That is good. It makes what I will request of him easier." He spoke the last of his sentence so softly that Zelda initially wondered if she had not heard it properly.

"What request?"

He was hesitant to answer at first, "I wish to resign from my post on the council..." He let that hang between the two at first, Zelda made no motion to say anything and Gustaf was quick to follow it up with an explanation, "It has been ages since I've seen my lands, I am constantly sent letters of its failing infrastructure and the dire need for me to come down. My son, my only son will marry soon and frankly, Princess, I have not seen my own wife for years." He signed deeply, "I have fought for my King, and served as his voice for many years. I hope that he will allow me to retire off in peace and I hope you may add your voice in support of my request. The King for his great intelligence is very stubborn and I know he will value your input."

Zelda was rather shocked, she had not known that her uncle was yearning for retirement so deeply. She had always been told that rest was for the commoners, that the royal family must work tirelessly to achieve peace for the realm. No doubt the King would not be pleased by such a request, yet Zelda was reminded of all that he had done for the realm and sympathized with his position. She recalled how badly she wanted Link to stop fighting, this constant duty to the realm would only consume your life and she immediately could see the same was happening to her uncle.

"Our work is unforgiving," Zelda began, "And if any of us deserve a time of break, it is you, Uncle. I will lend my voice."

"Thank you, princess," His expression was of great relief, "The King's and I younger brother was far better at diplomacy than I, in many ways he reminds me of your own brother. Had he lived a full life, I know he would happily serve his entire life traveling from province to province in the name of the King."

Zelda hadn't known that uncle very much, just vague memories as a child she briefly drifted back to. He passed after a period of illness and she remembered the mourning that her family went through because of it.

"Daphnes? He is a child."

"And heir to the realm, he will do wise to see it before he rules it. A couple of years in diplomatic service will do well, he can work with my son even. If your father allows it I will make a proper diplomat out of him and he'll forgo the blade, unlike his brother R-"

"Don't mention his name," Zelda silenced quickly, feeling some deep rage build at the mention of his name. There was a brief silence as she quickly regretted her outburst, "Apologies, I didn't mean to sound so aggressive."

"I heard no such thing, Princess." Gustaf assured coolly before turning the subject to something less controversial, "And how is your mother and Princess Tetra?"

"They fair well, Tetra can't be tamed and mother tires dealing with father." In many ways, Tetra had a very similar attitude to HIM. A thought she pushed out of her mind quickly. "Your son is to be married soon? Did he return to the capital as well?"

"No, no, he rides to meet his soon-to-be bride. They will be representing the King in Clock Town for their festival of time."

"How exciting, I have not seen Clock Town yet." The two stood up from the chair and began to walk towards the exit of the garden.

"It's a wonderful, rich city. The humans of your realm have a particularly different way of dealing with things."

"Oh no doubt, the humans I have met have been most unusual."

"Indeed, Princess. Will you ride with me back to the castle? I must report to your father about the mission."

"I would be glad to accompany you." With that agreement the two of them moved away from the gardens and returned to their guards. It wasn't long until the royal family departed the temple and towards the great Hyrule castle...

* * *

The Mouse

Hyrule's domain stretched as far as the eye could see, ruling over many regions filled with diverse cultures that had their own way of life and rule. At the core, Hyrule's first class citizens were the Hylians who occupied nearly every position of power while within their domain were also Humans, Deku, Zora and even the powerful Goron.

The Humans – while not dominate in terms of political power – represented the majority of the population within Hyrule and most of the provinces in the empire were human populated – Faron, Ordona and the entire Termina region were human populated.

Termina was the center of commerce for the entire empire, goods from all over Hyrule's domain flowed through it. None more so than Clock Town, which was in fact not a town at all but a massive city that was the envy of the world -lesser only to the capital itself. Commerce, services and craftsmen filled the city streets in a sort of capitalism only Termina seemed to have. Of course, while it was a great life for the elite of Clock Town and even the large middle class, the slums were anything but great. People were packed too close, and when the summer sun bore down upon the slums the stank of human waste and sweat perfumed the air with its intoxication that made life there utterly unbearable.

Who were the poor souls? They were the old who either didn't have children or the children abandoned them, they were the maimed, disfigured individuals who couldn't work, the ill, the orphans and the Deku who swarmed into the city for work but were pushed down into these streets by pro-human/Hylian housing restrictions.

What were these souls to do? The disfigured and old would make their way up the street to try and beg for coin from the more well off, the sick suffered and waited for care (only care they received were from those Goddess worshipers who took vows of poverty and spent their days tending to the sick), the Deku went to work in factories and the orphans? Well many of them found jobs alongside the Deku, but for others not wanting to work all day for a couple green rupees they found other work alongside the most vile of society.

"There it is..." One of those orphans muttered with a crooked smile, showing a mostly full set of crooked yellow teeth. He peeked out from behind the corner and watched with wide eyes as a small caravan rolled down the street, guarded by massive rock-like creatures known as the Goron. "Come on now, Mouse, mark it down!"

The orphan peered back over his shoulder and glanced at a younger orphan – twelve, maybe thirteen years old – with short dark (almost red) hair, soft sand dusted skin and green eyes. Wide eyed, the orphan scrambled up the nearby ladder and onto one of the building's roof, giving a huff of exhaustion she scrambled up further to the top of a even larger building that gave her perfect view of the clock tower in the town center. Even in the night she could clearly see the time and quickly she dug into her pack to pull out a piece of paper.

"Okay, okay..." She muttered to herself as she firmly held down the paper as to not let the gust of wind blow it away. Glancing at the clock tower she made note of the time along several others. "Done!" She said mostly to herself.

"Did you mark the time down?" The other orphan asked as he climbed after her.

"Oh yes!" Mouse said with a happy nod, "Right on time as always! See?" She held up the piece of paper to read, which the boy simply shrugged away.

"You know I can't count beyond ten, Mouse. It's pretty amazing you can, really." That she could, it really wasn't THAT hard and she was sure he actually could but refused to actually try. That being said she felt pretty good for knowing how to do it though...

"Well thanks, Rat." She said with an awkward shrug, "You can read some words though. I can't do that so we work well together."

"Ugh..." he sighed, "It's DEATH, okay. Not Rat."

"It's Rat. Everyone calls you Rat, no one calls you Death." She sighed with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, Rat and Mouse sounds way better don't you think?"

"Whatever," Rat said with a pout. "So we're done now right?"

"Yup, same day for the last four weeks we were told to mark when they came in and this was the fourth time. They come in twice every week with shipments, tonight and tomorrow, never changing their schedule."

"Boss will be happy..." Rat said sitting down besides Mouse and looking off into the distance. "We'll give it to him first thing in the morning, alright?"

"Sounds good to me." Mouse agreed, eager to find somewhere to sleep. With a motion towards the ladder they began to make their climb back down off the roof. "You think Anju will let us stay at the Stock Pot Inn again?"

"I dunno Mouse, with the festival of time approaching I doubt she has many spare beds for us." Rat said with a shrug, "Couldn't hurt to try. Beats sleeping on the streets."

"You could say that again," with the festival of time rolling in the city became even more crammed than normal. Farmers and traveling artisans from nearby would come in to try and sell their goods to the flocks of people that swarmed from nearby towns. It wasn't just lower folk either, Mayors from surrounding towns and even some lords from their minor holdings would make their way down here. It wasn't at all uncommon for some Grand Lord to make the travel here to see the festivity take place, once – and this was a long time ago – when Mouse was very young the King of Hyrule even came to see it. Which was rather odd considering the festival of time honored a different religion than the Royal Family followed.

In all truthfulness they should be busy robbing the dumb folk that wondered into their part of town tonight. But Boss made himself VERY clear what they wanted them to do tonight and none of them were very keen on making the Boss of the Bombers angry.

"Money... please..." one of the poor disfigured begged to the two orphans who passed by him without so much of a glance in his direction. They were all poor and hungry people, no sympathy would be found there.

The two quickened their pace knowing how late it was and that if they even stood a chance of getting into the doors of the Stock Pot Inn they would have to get there quickly. At this point the patrons would have been making their way from the various bars, their minds and vision blurred by the milk liquor that Clock Town so loved, and if they had enough energy they might even manage to find the right bed they rented. Perhaps, if the two orphans were lucky, there would be a bed left for them to sneak into.

As predicted the eastern district bars were just letting out, spilling wobbling patrons out into the streets. Mouse licked her lips, with so many drunk people it would be so easy to pickpocket!

"Later!" Rat insisted tugging Mouse's shoulder. "I'm too tired. I swear I could sleep anywhere right now."

"Well hold on now." She made a gesture to the Stock Pot Inn. They pushed the entrance open and slipped into the building, the Inn had its own kitchen that served plenty of drinks and it was incredibly filled. As they feared the festival of time had brought in plenty of people all needing beds, they didn't think there would be much chance for them. Even Anju wouldn't turn down some paying customers for a couple of flea infested orphans.

They spotted Anju in the back – which wasn't very hard – the woman was like a porcelain doll, with a sharp nose and ears, upright and thin with soft red hair that fell evenly to her shoulders. The woman stood looking upon the crowd of people as they cleared the bar area and stumbled up to her room.

"Let me do the talking, she doesn't like you, Rat." Mouse said pushing ahead.

"What- why would you say that?"

"You smell!" Mouse said with a grin while covering her own nose.

"Ugh, yeah right. You don't smell that much better." Nevertheless he hung back a bit, Mouse always had a way with people Rat didn't.

"Anju, looking good as always. How's it going?" Mouse said, leaning against the wall next to Anju and flashing her a smile. Anju gave a glance down to Mouse and shook her head.

"There are no beds, Mouse." Maybe Mouse didn't have a way with people after all. She bit her tongue and cursed it all, it was just as they feared.

"Are you sure?" Mouse looked up, prepared to beg! There was no shame in begging if it led to a comfy bed.

"I'm sure. I'm sorry." She knew Anju was sorry too, the woman had a bleeding heart. A true patron for the needy really.

"We can pay you now, we really can." They actually could, they still had plenty of rupees from pickpocketing earlier in the day.

"There are no beds to pay for, Mouse..."

"Ah..." She huffed, prepared to give up and turn to the streets.

"Well..." Anju began, giving the orphan a moment of hope. "Perhaps we can set up a couple of cots in the kitchen. Would that be fine?"

Anything was better than the streets. "Yes, ma'am. Yes that would be fine!"

"You'll be helping with the dishes though, is that clear?"

"Oh sure! No problem there at all." That wasn't so bad and usually they could eat the scraps off of people's plates! So really it was actually kinda a gift.

Anju led them back to the kitchen which was actually mostly empty now (dinner was served earlier only drinks were being served this late). A large beefy man was cleaning the kitchen and barely paid the three any mind as they walked in.

"The vermin sneak their way in again, huh?" He grumbled before motioning over to a pile of dishes. "You can start there."

The cleaning went quick and they didn't even have to eat any scraps, they were given left over potato soup after they finished and have some fairly comfortable cots laid out for them as well. "What's got Anju so down?" Mouse asked as they settled into their cots.

The large man leaned against the counter and looked over at the two orphans, "You hadn't heard? Her fiancee hasn't been seen anywhere. I can't honestly believe she's even functioning properly right now."

Mouse laid her head down on the pillow, it felt good and she was so tired she could easily fall asleep right there. "Really? Oh... I mean I'm sure he's fine." Mouse only ever caught glimpses of the man and like many men he probably just got incredibly drunk and was sleeping off the day in some other woman's bed.

"It ain't like him..." The bigger man shrugged, "I know Anju would be out looking for him but this place would fall apart if she wasn't here. It's too bad..."

"He'll probably turn up in the morning! The entire week leading up to the festival is just one giant party." Rat shrugged.

"He's been missing for over a week."

"Oh shit..." Mouse muttered to herself. That was a bit weirder to be sure – either he got cold feet or something happened to him. Probably robbed and bled out in some alleyway somewhere. "Poor Anju..."

"Yeah, so if you kids hear anything out on the streets tomorrow, let Anju know. It's the least you two could do for her." The man blew out the candles then walked off towards his own room. Mouse could trace his heavy footsteps across the inn until he made it to his room.

In the dark of the kitchen room Rat and Mouse both fell asleep after a few minutes of being left alone. Their bodies were worn and the sleep would help them prepare for the challenges of tomorrow...

Anju's lost fiancee or the less-than comfortable floors barely weighed on Mouse's mind as she fell into such a deep sleep that she barely stirred throughout the night. She dreamed though, she dreamed that she was flying high away the city like the birds did. Sailing around the great clock tower and looking down upon the people below like they were small ants.

" _Look at me! I'm great now, and you're small!"_ She called out, laughing like a mad man. She could feel the wind blow through her hair and she bent her head upwards, she would fly out of the city and see the world beyond! Perhaps fly into Hyrule Castle and kick that fat King right off his throne. Maybe SHE would be King (or Queen? No she'd rather be King, people seemed to treat Queens different).

Yet when she looked beyond the horizon she saw only the moon with a furiously angry face staring back at her. The beautiful sky fell dark and in the deep distance she could see four giants approaching with a single, glowing figure leading them...

" _Hurry, the moon, it's falling again!"_ she cried for the giants to hurry, yet the moon fell faster and faster right towards her. She closed her eyes and screamed.

A sudden thud in the side of her chest jolted her awake.

"Jeez, Mouse... always the unwanted alarm..." Rat stood above her, rubbing his eyes of sleep. "Oh well, probably a good time to get up now..."

The large cook was already in the kitchen preparing the breakfast for those who would be rousing from sleep soon. He stared at the two, "She do that a lot?" He asked in his normal gruff tone.

"Every couple of nights it seems... she's been doing good lately though..." Rat sighed. Mouse wiped the sweat off her forehead and controlled her breathing, "Did you dream of your parents again?"

That was the normal dream – at least she thought it was her parents. In a vague dream it would start with her being held, a sweet motherly smell accompanying her dream always, then suddenly it would change to a dark, damp area and in the small distance she could see her mother run away from her. She would call after her and beg her to come back but a force would keep her still. At least she thought it was her mother... truth was she didn't know.

But that wasn't the dream she had, that was one was... more unique. She blamed it on the fact she and Rat would bunk out in the temple's upper attics and would occasionally overhear one of the priests speak about the giants and the creation of the world and the moon falling. All silly old tales really.

"No, I mean not really... and don't call them that. I don't have parents." She finally said, Rat simply shrugged.

"You and me both, Mouse. That's why we are ORPHANS." He prodded her shoulder, to which she quickly swiped away his had. "Alright, be grumpy in the morning whatever. Got any food for us, big guy?"

"Carrots and chicken scraps." He said gesturing over to two bowls of food. Mouse was shaken and annoyed but that didn't stop her from quickly scrambling over to the table to eat what was given. She dug into the food, shoving it into her face as fast as she could.

"Relax, relax and take it easy. No one is going to take it from you," the cook said as he brought to cups of milk. MILK. The two shot the cook unusual glances, nobody was this nice to them without a cost.

"Don't you think this is a regular thing, but you are kids... your bones need it." The two made glances at each other before shrugging it off and taking the cup of milk. Mouse loved it – thick liquid full of fat the seemed to fill up her belly faster than the food did. She cleaned out every bit of food and milk there was and by the end of it her belly felt so full she could barely move.

"Ugh," she leaned back, "I could sleep again I really could..."

"Same." Rat stated patting his belly, "We can't though. We have PLACES to be, remember?"

It suddenly occurred to Mouse what their mission was and she quickly patted down her pocket to feel for the note full of times they had collected. She felt it within her pocket and felt relieved at that.

"Oh yeah..."

"What places would that be?" The cook asked, giving them a suspicious glance.

"Places that orphans go." Rat countered and the cook just rolled his eyes.

"Well get a move on then and stay out of Anju's way. She doesn't need anymore problems right now."

"Yes, sir!" Mouse slid off her chair before they walked towards the exit, "Thanks a bunch, big guy, we'll be back!"

"Maybe not so fast!" He protested as they slid out of the exit and down the hall.

Not many were awake just yet, at this point only the traveling merchants coming into town to trade and sell had gotten up. The drunks, scholars, poets and other guests who rolled into the city for the festivals were still passed out in their bunks at this hour. Yet out of all the tired looking merchants was a man who sat in the far back corner, his face naturally concealed by the shadow in the corner, Mouse could only slightly make out the outline of a dark beard that was given visibility by the pipe he puffed. What bothered her was the fact he kept a stern eye on the two as they moved through and it gave Mouse shivers. There was something not right about him and she was ready to get out into the streets.

As they were approaching the exit they caught Anju's eye, who might normally try and ignore their presence around paying customers (orphans weren't good for business), yet this time she motioned for them to come closer.

"Oh boy, she's going to tell us not to come back," Mouse bit her lip in nervousness.

"Yeah probably cause you screamed." Rat signed and for a brief moment Mouse felt a tinge of guilt for it.

"Sleep well?" Anju asked, folding her hands over each other. She looked more tired and nervous than usual.

"Very good, ma'am." Rat replied respectfully hoping they wouldn't be banned from the inn... again.

"Were you told..." She began meekly, "About my fiancee?"

The two gave each other nervous glances before nodding.

"You two will keep an eye out for him, won't you?"

"Of course." Honestly they weren't sure what they should be looking for. A dead body in an alleyway perhaps?

"Thank you... come tell me anything you find please." With a nod of agreement they moved to the door. Only Mouse stopped briefly, tugged on Anju and made a motion to the man in the corner.

"Who's the creep?"

Anju tried not to make any sight of the man, "Not so loud please..." She hissed, "That man... he's a Faron Ranger."

All Mouse knew about Faron Rangers was that they hunted monsters and that they themselves were part monster. Some of the greatest warriors alive and pure killers at that. She even heard they ate the flesh of children! That might be a rumor but they were not human. What was the most shocking was that she had never seen a Ranger this far north before, usually monsters weren't really a problem here... mostly they came from the wild lands on the border of Faron and Ordona.

"Keep him away from children, Anju. They eat them."

"What?" Anju gasped at Mouse's remark.

"Nothing, anyway I'm off. I'll keep an eye out for your man." Mouse quickly made her way outside of the inn and back to Rat.

"We can't keep Boss waiting, Mouse, let's move." He tugged her shoulder and the two were off down the alleyway. The sun had barely been up long and already the city was starting to get unbearably hot. The summer days were brutal and the sweltering heat made Mouse sweat so uncomfortably.

"Can we go to the springs today? I haven't had a bath in like... weeks." She certainly couldn't remember the last time.

"Yeah I suppose. Gotta be quick though the guards get really unhappy with orphans bathing in the springs, especially during festival time."

"I know! I'm fast though, never been caught by a guard before."

"Yeah, I have though..." Mouse gave a glance back to her taller friend, she could see some of the scars from the lashings the guards gave him through the tattered white shirt he wore.

"We'll be quick... after our meeting!"

They made their way down to the river that flowed through the town, which Mouse would have been happy to jump in aside from the fact the river was basically sewage. Most of the desperate people would bath in the river... and also shit and piss in the river too.

"Alright here we are..." there was a passage way leading deep into the old underground sewage center (that you guessed it, flowed into the river). It was a deeply confusing maze of pathways and they had gotten lost several times, yet they knew their way through the passages well enough now and they were quick in going through it.

The Bombers left clues all over the elaborate sewer to help guide those who were paying attention. A blue mark on the wall meant that they should take the next right, two blue marks meant take the next left and that would lead them to the main area of operations. Red marks should be avoided as it would lead potentially very dangerous situations.

As they got closer to the area of operation they ran into another member of the Bombers who checked their card before allowing them past. They walked through a hole in the wall and climbed down the ladder into the main area that was full of some of the higher up Bombers, 'the number guys' was what the Rat called them and they were sectioned off into their own offices and areas that ran divisions of the Bombers all across the city.

"Rat, Mouse!" The voice calling out to them belonged to a kid younger than the both of them, he was a runner for the Bombers and would relay messages between grunts and highers up. They called him Red because his cheeks were always bright red from running all day, today was no different.

"It's Death." Rat tried to correct.

"Since when?" Red asked with a puzzled look.

"Since never." Mouse added to the annoyance of Rat.

"Yeah... So you guys been doing good out there?"

"Nah... I mean okay, we've just been busy doing what the Boss asked of us." Rat shrugged.

"Which sucks cause we could be making a killing..." Mouse remembered last year they stole so much they ate like kings for weeks!

"Oh well, usually the Boss awards lots of good stuff for these kinds of missions..." It was true and Mouse only hoped they would be given plenty of wonderful gifts.

"You going to see Boss? I'm heading there too actually. I'll walk with you." Red said motioning for them to follow him up the winding stairs to where the 'west district' was located.

"What does Boss have you doing this time?" Mouse asked as they tried to keep up with Red who was always on a pace above them.

"Running a lot of information between people watching the city council and mayor actually..." That perked their interest, after all it wasn't exactly normal for people of the west district to be keeping tabs on those powerful people. That's what the east district did, usually.

"That's weird." Rat echoed her thought's.

"Yeah for sure, means I've been running extra fast these days." Red chuckled as they made it to the Boss's door, after a moment's wait they were motioned through. Boss's office was pretty cool, had piles of papers on several desks that Boss's personal workers were going through and a huge map of the city on the back wall. Boss, who was not an orphan – a twenty some year old man with shoulder length blonde hair and dark tattoos down his arm (which Mouse thought was pretty cool given that usually only Gorons had tattoos).

"Hey Boss..." Rat started to say rather meekly, none of them wanted to interrupt him.

The Boss gave a glance up at them, placing his pen down he looked over the orphans. First motioning for Red to come over and hand him the report he had prepared.

"You two are...?" Boss asked glancing over Rat and Mouse.

"I'm Rat, this is Mouse..." Rat introduced themselves again, upon hearing the names Boss seemed to remember them.

"Oh good, you have the report I assume?"

"Yes, uh, Mouse give it to him..." Rat pushed her forward. Mouse dug it out of her pocket and presented it to the man.

"There it is, the times for the past week when those Goron fellas would come walking into the city. Always pretty close time, transporting something very big too! Lot of them were guarding it."

"Perfect..." this sparked a light in Boss's eyes, he seemed rather excited about this. "This was the final report I needed for this. You two did good, very good..."

Mouse smiled, the rewards would come in, she just knew it! Boss was happy and so was she.

Bombers were pretty typically just information dealers, they would turn information over to the highest bidder and then they did whatever with that. For the west, it was normally times of arrival of goods and other, more rough bandits would buy that information. The north brought in all the good information that they frequently sold to politicians of the city. Mouse thought that this would be no different.

"Red, I want you to call on everyone available to come immediately for a meeting tomorrow at noon. I'll have the next step in the plan laid out by then," Red responded with a 'yes sir' before running off. "You two did very well... but here is when things get interesting..."

"How interesting... sir?" Rat peered over to the paper Boss was writing on, like Rat could actually read any of it.

"Very interesting..." The Boss licked his lips, as if whatever idea he had in his mind was making him hungry and eager to act, "we're going to commit one of the single greatest heists in Bomber history. We're going to steal from the Grand Goron Armory."

That was very interesting indeed, and somehow Mouse got the idea that they weren't going to be able to return to the usual pickpocketing. No, things were getting interesting, and with that, very dangerous...

* * *

The Banished

 _Boom,_ was the rheumatic sound that made its way deep into the underground halls.

"One... two...three..." _Boom_ came the sound again, "One...two... three..."

The darkened halls were mostly empty, people were all pushed up watching the games above. But a young man of twenty six years old sat in the darkened hall, eyes closed and diligently listening to the noise above. Sweat dripped down from his gold blonde hair and collected around the well trimmed beard, the leather gear he wore did little to cool him down from the heat and the sweat on his bear arms shined in the light.

"One... two... three..." and another loud boom echoed, this time the roars came even louder and the man knew it was all over now. Sure enough no more than a couple of minutes later two guards – garnished in leather armor that hid their dark skin – came walking down the hall towards him.

"Slave!" One of the guards exclaimed, "On your feet. It's your turn."

The man closed his eyes and bowed his head, for a moment the guards thought the man was being defiant. "Alright then... let's do this..." He stood from the bench and picked up his choice of weaponry – a short serrated sword and a round steel shield.

The guards walked behind him as he ascended a stairs to where a blinding light indicated the outside. The cheers became louder and the smell of dirt and blood became apparent.

"Forward, slave." The guards had halted but indicated that they wanted him to move forward.

He shot them one last look before facing the light outside, "My name is Rhoam..." He hissed before stepping forward into the light. Blinding, at first the day light hurt his eyes, but after a quick adjustment he was able to take in the surrounding area – it was a fighting pit, not a particularly big one but sizable with a few hundred people seated and cheering from the stands. On the upper level, above the peasants were the ruling class, who sat in the shade and drank wine and dined while they watched their games. This was a Gorudo fighting pit where slaves and outlaws fought to the brutal end at the appeasement of the people.

The body of the last fighter hadn't even been cleaned out yet, the victim was thinner and far more starved looking than Rhoam was, and with his face smashed in and blood and brains skewed about Rhoam would have reckoned he stood little chance against the opponent. And who could blame the poor man? His opponent was a beast, standing well over six feet and wide like a tank, built strongly and wielding a war hammer that he swung around with one hand. No doubt a slave owned by one of the seated aristocrats watching.

"Oh what have you gotten yourself into..." Rhoam muttered to himself. The man had no armor, but getting close to him was an entirely different story. Not to mention the way he used that war hammer meant Rhoam's own armor was essentially useless.

"Kill, kill, kill!" The crowd chanted as Rhoam moved out into the field, the bets were already being made and he somehow expected he was not the heavyweight here.

"Our day isn't over yet!" An announcer called from above the ring, "The Great Sand Goddess desires ONE more sacrifice."

The large man turned towards Rhoam, his blood thirsty eyes glancing up and down him as he measured Rhoam up. "They send another one to die. A human?"

"Hylian, actually..." Rhoam responded back in the native language.

"An expensive waste." His opponent didn't waste another moment, he stepped towards Rhoam and raised his hammer up high before arcing it down towards him. Rhoam saw the swing coming and rolled out of the way quickly, the hammer slamming against the ground and creating the 'boom' sound Rhoam had been tracking before.

The crowd cheered, the lust of blood once again over taking the crowd as they seemingly became convinced of Rhoam's soon to be demise. Rhoam hadn't resigned himself to that fate just yet, he kept positioned himself as the smallest target he could and waited for the strike to come again.

It came quickly, the man used the hammer with such grace it was almost an art form really. Rhoam would admire it if it weren't for the fact that it was trying to cave his skull in.

He side stepped out of the way and flashed a mocking smile, seeking to enrage and wear the man out.

 _One... two... three..._ Rhoam tracked how long it took between swings, consistently dodging the man's strike with ease. The crowd was starting to get a little tired of Rhoam's games now, crying out for him to stop running and fight. The crowd's annoyance only served to enrage Rhoam's opponent further...

Yet he was starting to strike slower and slower, there were now two more seconds between each strike – which meant it was time for Rhoam to make his move.

The strike came down and instead of stepping back Rhoam stepped forward, taking the opportunity to rush the man. He stepped inside the radius of the hammer, knowing that the man would be unable to properly swing at him now, Rhoam could almost taste the victory that would be his in seconds.

Yet what he wasn't expecting was how powerful his punch was, that attacker used his left hand and slammed it against Rhoam's shield with such strength it actually made him stumble back a little, and that was all the time he needed to strike Rhoam harder – he reached out and grabbed him by the throat, picking up the Hylian with astonishing ease.

"Shit!" Rhoam hissed, hearing the crowd roar in delight. Quickly Rhoam acted, taking his blade and slashing down on the arm that held him. He cut him deep, blood poured from the wound and Rhoam was let go to strike again. "This is it now!" Rhoam roared, thrusting his sword into the man's exposed ribs.

He stabbed deep, deep enough that Rhoam thought it would immobilize him. The shriek the man made was enough to silence the crowd, if not just briefly – the stab to the ribs was enough to make him let go of his hammer, however, with his free right arm he bashed Rhoam away, smacking him across the head and stumbling him onto the ground.

 _How is he still going!?_ Rhoam asked himself, now without a blade and a little dazed from the strike. Rhoam stumbled to his feet as the man slowly approached him – his side covered in blood and he was panting hard, yet the lust for blood was still in his eyes.

"I... will... not... be... killed!" He grabbed as Rhoam who tried to bash his hands away with the shield, instead he grabbed the shield and yanked it hard from Rhoam, using it to instead bash Rhoam with such strength that Rhoam ended up on the ground with a mouse full of sand. On the ground now, the man was on him, grabbing at his throat in attempt to crush his windpipe. It was working, Rhoam couldn't breath and he could feel the strength pushing down on him. In a last ditch effort he kicked at his side, hitting the sword that was still lodged in his side and ripped it downward with a bloody sound that was a mixture of skin and bone being cut by the serrated blade.

Rhoam scrambled, grabbing the sword from the man's side and pulling it from him. He took a step away from the bloodied slave now, wondering if he had any more strength left to keep fighting. He didn't, how could he? He hugged his side, attempting with a feeble chance to stop the bleeding.

"Sorry friend, you're dead..." Rhoam said, "Even if you killed me there is no healing that wound..."

The crowd have fell silent, nobody could entirely believe what was happening and most of them saw their money they bet gone. Rhoam looked through the crowd, a smug grin growing on his face as he looked at all the people who wanted him dead.

He raised his weapon and looked down to his fallen opponent, "Send my best regards to my sister, will you?" His positioned the edge of his blade over the man's upper throat before pushing down on it, putting his opponent out of his misery.

Perhaps the initial shock was over from the fight and the crowd started to cheer, applauding the unlikely victory. All except the female aristocrats who were fuming at the loss of their prized slave. Truthfully, Rhoam felt a little bad for the man he just murdered – after all he had fought two other men before Rhoam came up, had Rhoam been the first to fight this beast of a man he might have been the one who was laying dead in the sand.

He took his exit of the arena back underground where he was given water, some food and promptly chained back up by the guards who would keep him safe until his master came to fetch him. No doubt, she was collecting the bounty of his victory now and then she'd come get him, which was fine with Rhoam after all he badly needed to cool down and relax and these dark, cool halls were the perfect place to do so.

Rhoam, Prince of Hyrule and the rightful heir of Men, Hylians, Deku, Zoras and all the rest of them. At least at one point that was true, however that was no longer so. He was just Rhoam, banished prince and slave, fighting for coin and glory. And honestly? He didn't exactly mind it; Hyrule was a place of political intrigue and backstabbing while here at least you were well aware that everyone wanted you dead – that simplified things.

He sat with his head against the cool floor when the sound footsteps caught his ear, he glanced over to see the two guards approach once again but with another close behind. The following woman was a tall, gorgeous woman with dark skin and long black hair that was weaved together. "You may leave us now." She said towards the guards that promptly left the two. The stern look of a slave lord stood for only a moment before it melted away into a smile.

"I can't believe you did it!"

"Can't believe – wait are you implying that you knowingly sent me into harms way thinking I'd LOSE?" His protest were cut short when the woman embraced him in a passionate kiss, he only pulled away due to the fact his entire face was in a great deal of pain from the previous fight. "Gently, gently, love. I just slayed a giant."

"And stole his gold, as well." She added, holding up a heavy bag of coins (Gerudo traded in many fashions, gold coins minted by the Gerudo Principality down south was a popular one). "Well, the gold of all the rich ladies that had stake in him. They're pretty pissed, no doubt."

Rhoam pulled himself up from the ground and glanced over the woman once more. She was beauty among thieves and her ambitious mind had gotten them into plenty of trouble in the past. Her name was Urbosa, named after some great Gerudo warrior, she was the furthest thing from the rich slave owning aristocrats they just pissed off. She was a poor girl, the lowest of all Gerudo and considered by most to be no better than dirt, but she never let that stop her from doing what she wanted and Rhoam admired that about her a lot.

Now their arrangement, in all 'legal' terms of Gerudo law, he was her slave. However it was much more of a partnership, he was a skilled fighter that wanted to thrive in this highly matriarch society and she was a gutter rat looking to rise up in the world. Rhoam met her many years ago after a brief time serving in the Desert Warriors mercenary group where he fought about a dozen or so trade wars between the great cities down south. That was boring and didn't really pay well, however with the arrangement Urbosa and he had, they had just earned more gold than he ever did ransacking trade posts.

"We should get going before they hire someone to take back their gold or something," Urbosa locked Rhoam's hands back up in the shackles, they had to play the part around here and a Hylian like him was rarely seen this deep in the Gerudo realm.

"Yes I couldn't agree more."

"It's fine bedding and wonderful food from now on, my sweet slave." Her teasing earned him a chuckle, he might have argued in his entire body wasn't aching from the fight.

The two moved through the city streets, it was a fairly average sized city for the Gerudo people and acted as a trading post between the more wild northern areas and civilized southern portions of the Gerudo people. That being said it wasn't a huge slave port and the sight of a Hylian slave was rather unusual, so Rhoam had been garbed to hide his most distinctive Hylian features.

"I need MANY drinks, Urbosa, ideally until I can no longer feel my face."

"I thought your face was already numb?"

"Unfortunately I wasn't hit that hard, I am painfully aware of the swelling in my body." Rhoam's body was aching.

They found bedding in a nearby inn, single story stone building. The entrance had blankets thrown about with people sleeping right there in the open, it was for the very poor that simply could afford a roof over their head. But they had enough coin to purchase the privacy they could not.

"Shall we move your slave into the barn?" Barn was a kind term, the barns horses had were in nicer shape than what they were given.

"This isn't some lowly servant-slave, this is a prize winner and I shall keep a close eye on him," Urbosa said with a matter-of-fact tone of voice. That wasn't untypical, a good fighter was worth enough to lead people to try and kidnap or competitors to kill in their sleep.

"That's him? The Hylian? Everyone is talking about him..." The inn owner said with a jealous eye, "He was a wise investment."

The room they got was very good for Gerudo standards – large bed in the corner with sheets of 'sand fur' for comfort, a large mural of the Sand Goddess adorned the wall in the direction to where the great shrine was and there was a table with plates full of fine fruit to be eaten. Urbosa left to bath in the public bath and returned with a large vase of water that Rhoam used to wash off the sand and blood from his body (slaves weren't allowed in the baths). Afterwords, they shared the bed together in a heated, passionate time.

The day seemed to pass quickly from there, night quickly came and the temperature seemed to drop with the sun, leaving it cold and dangerous out at night.

"This is a lot of gold." Rhoam admitted having gone through their winnings, glancing over the gold coins with more lust in his eyes than when he looked at a naked woman. Urbosa could see that lust for gold and she gave him a hard kick in the shoulder to break his attention of the coin.

"We can't keep all of it," Urbosa told a rather confused Rhoam.

"And why not?"

"I intend to offer some of it to the Sand Goddess, she has looked after us thus far so I'll hear no protest." Rhoam chuckled at Urbosa's words – she was devout in her beliefs, and he wondered what she would do if she knew that Rhoam's sister was essentially a rival-goddess incarnate.

"Right, right, well that can come from your earnings. Seeing that I care little for a sand goddess, or any goddess for that matter, I'll keep mine."

That earned a stern look from his partner which he paid no mind to. Instead he decided to sit by the small fireplace and clean his sword. This sword was one of the few mementos from his homeland and was befitting of the prince he was – its hilt was a sapphire blue with a strong steel guard, the blade itself was smooth and where the fuller dipped in the blade was gilded in gold. The blade had been a point of conflict between Urbosa and him, on numerous occasions had she suggested pawning it off or melting it down and each time a enraged Rhoam would shout her down. Truth was without this blade he was just some Hylian claiming to be the rightful heir of Hyrule, but the blade was undeniably the famed White blade that previous Kings of Hyrule had brandished before, it was the proof he needed to his birthright if he ever was allowed to return.

Urbosa sat up from the bed and draped the sand seal blanket over her to protect from the cold, sitting crossed legged by Rhoam as he gently polished the blade. "Tell me about your family?"

Rhoam hated this topic, at first he found no issue lying to her when they first met about his origin but he was growing rather fond of her and didn't enjoy repeating the same half truth. He thought about telling her the full truth many times, yet he didn't entirely believe she wouldn't sell the Prince of Hyrule to the highest bidder and make herself one of the richest women in the Gerudo region.

"I come from a modest family in the highlands of Hyrule, I was the third child and frankly I would have been lucky to be left with a small hut after my father passes. My sister was to marry a... powerful warrior from a great house, he claimed to be someone he's not and I saw through his lie. I called him out on his lie in a very public fashion and my father did not enjoy that.. so he banished me."

"Are all families in Hyrule that wealthy?" she motioned to the blade that was no doubt worth a fair bit.

"There are many old families that have much wealth." That was true enough, Hyrule was an old empire and the families that ruled the lands had done so for many centuries. It was easy to amass wealth over that period of time..

"And what did your family do again?"

He paused, trying to remember what he had told her all that time ago. "We were the lord of a couple small farming villages. So I suppose we made our wealth from moo-moo milk." He chuckled slightly and he felt his stomach growl, there was nothing like moo-moo milk here in this part of the world.

"Hmm, well we shall make far more wealth than your farmer family ever made at this rate." Urbosa added with a confident smile. Her smile gave him warmth, yet he wasn't exactly sure what he wanted in the end. He had enjoyed the years of fighting, which he considered almost cathodic, but there was a yearning feeling to return to his homeland that he would never have the pleasure of doing. He had thought that after Link was killed he would be called back and welcomed by his family, yet he had heard no such news... so perhaps, he and Urbosa would earn enough gold to live a more quiet life off somewhere else... that didn't sit well with him though.

"I will be back," Urbosa said, snapping Rhoam out of his thoughts, "I need something to warm my blood. I won't be long."

Urbosa vanished for probably twenty minutes, when she returned she came with a large bottle filled with Gerudo liquor. "Would you like some?" She asked with a glowing smile. Rhoam never cared for it, it was strong, sweet smelling but burned like pure fire.

"No thanks," Rhoam chuckled as Urbosa started to down the liquor. He had drank his fair share from the food and wine she brought earlier, "Did that cost us our winnings?"

"Not at all, the owner of the inn gave it to me. She wanted to thank us today for such a great show, she said she had seen nothing like it." Rhoam shook his head but paid her little mind as she drank away. Not much time had passed as she became drunk on the strong liquor, head rested against the wall as she slowly fell asleep while looking out the window.

Rhoam had laid his head down on a pillow and stretched out by the fire, he never enjoyed sharing a bed with someone. "Can you make it to bed?" He asked with a glance towards her. She stumbled and finally found her way back to the comfy bedding they had bought. He chuckled as she snored very loudly, he often wondered what his father would think, him sharing a room with a Gerudo woman. He didn't pay that much thought as he doubted his father gave him much of any warm thoughts anymore.

"I believe you will wake the entire city, Urbosa," Rhoam said to the passed out woman. He kept his eyes trained on the fire that crackled lightly, it wasn't long until he began to feel his body wear down and sleep pull him away...

Rhoam dreams were very unusual – he was standing in a field with a city he vaguely recognized in the distance. It soon occurred to him that he was surrounded by creatures he could only describe as great giants that were approaching that city.

"What...?" He muttered to himself, "What an unusual dream..." Rhoam was fully aware that he was dreaming, he always did have that ability to know, and he knew he could quickly change it to whatever he wanted. Yet no matter how many times he said to himself 'give me a dozen beautiful women' nothing ever came... instead a giant moon was a rather angry face on it stared down at him.

Nothing else happened, as the light noise of the door opening startled him away. He thought that perhaps it was morning and Urbosa had already awoken, yet as he opened his eyes he noticed that fire he had fallen to sleep next to still had no fully died out yet. His body froze and he listened intently as the floor lightly creaked as several individuals made their way INTO the room.

His hand tightened around the hilt of his blade, and quickly he rolled up from the ground and to his feet. There were three people in the room, their faces shrouded in hoods but their wide eyes visible as they did not seem to expect his fast movement.

"Who are you?!" Rhoam shouted but the knives in their hands were enough to let Rhoam know they meant business. He didn't waste any time, he rushed at one with his blade trying to cut one down right away. The first person dodged Rhoam's sword easily, shouting something towards his ally in a language Rhoam did not understand.

The other tried to rush Rhoam, perhaps trying to save his friend from Rhoam's aggressive approach, but instead it was just a wasteful sacrifice – Rhoam saw the approach, easily deflected the knife and plunged White deep into the man, the razor sharp blade cut through the man easier than the blade in the fighting pit. He quickly pulled the blade from the man and delivered a fast slash to the other man who fell back, wounded from the slash and looking to flee towards the door with his friend.

Rhoam might have run after them, instead he hung back, making a glance at Urbosa who did not move an inch. He rushed to her side, feeling around in the dark, expecting that the assassins had already killed her and he was too late – instead he found she was untouched and snoring as loudly as before.

"What!? Wake up you silly woman," Rhoam urged yet she did not respond, he was confused yet the glance to the bottle told him all he needed to know, that this had been some trap, "Dammit, I should have known... alright, alright, up we go."

He threw her over his shoulder, grabbed the back of coins and turned towards the hallway. They needed to get as far from the city as possible now, he wasn't sure who wanted them dead but he was sure it had something to do with his earlier victory. If people knew they were staying there they knew they had a large amount of gold, any number of thieves would have hatched this plan easily.

Rhoam stepped out into the hall, the moonlight shown through the windows and illuminated with enough light that Rhoam could see the hall was clear for them to go down. He started towards the stairs when the sudden sound of foot steps halted his movement. They sounded heavy and in large numbers, and the whispers of words he gathered sounded like someone was saying 'up there, I heard it'.

"Guards?" Someone must have heard the struggle and alerted nearby town guards. That would have been a good thing, although he was holding an unconscious Urbosa with a bloody sword – which he imagined would look like a slave going on rampage and seizing his master. They would kill him before Urbosa could wake up to convince them otherwise.

"Shit, shit!" Rhoam cursed to himself, looking around the area quickly until he spotted the window overlooking the stables. He moved over to it and looked down, seeing the roof of the stable wasn't that far to the ground. "Please live through this..." Rhoam said as he took a step off from the window and fell towards the roof.

First thing he lost was his sword, which tumbled off the roof of the stable and onto the ground. Second was Urbosa, who's body began to roll towards the edge of the roof. Rhoam grabbed onto her once again and hugged her tightly and as they both slid off the roof of the stable he turned his own body to the ground to take the blow. Thankfully, the ground below was softened by hay and they slid right into an itchy pile of it. Which made the landing softer but by no means kept it from hurting tremendously.

First thing he did was locate White, next thing he did was seize one of the horses, throw Urbosa over it and ride it straight out of the stable and towards the nearest exit. Behind him he could hear the guards begin to scramble as they found the dead body within their room, but he knew that they had not seen him leave and the escape would be easy.

He knew naught of who wanted them dead or if a hefty price now stood over his head, all Rhoam knew was that this city was no longer safe and that they would be best to get as far away as possible. If it was a scorned aristocrat as he reckoned then the city guards would be in their pockets. As they rode off, a half smile crept across Rhoam's lips, it was moments like this that you truly felt alive. This type of thrill was something he'd never have as Prince of Hyrule. He pushed aside any thoughts of one day returning, a life without these thrills was no life worth leading...


	3. Part One Chapter Two

A little explanation of succession laws - kingdom goes to the first male child, exception being if a Chosen Hero has been picked and there is an available first born daughter (having the traditional name of Zelda). This is what happened in the story, when the Chosen Hero married Zelda, Rhoam lost his right to the throne. With the death of Link though, Zelda is no longer in line.

Anyway enjoy the chapter just in time for the (US) holidays.

* * *

 **The Ranger**

Lurelin is a quiet little hamlet, perhaps thirty or forty people, that was a good ways out of anything of any importance. That, of course, could be said about most things in Faron. The Faron Province was by any standard unremarkable, a vast unsettled region with large swaths of trees and fields as far as the eye could see. Those who lived in Faron were just as unremarkable as the province, simple people who made their living from the earth with little concern of outside politics.

Lurelin was peaceful, a hamlet spared even the brute of the war against the so-called Bulblin King that ravaged much of Ordona and Faron five years ago. Anyone you would happen to meet from Lurelin – if you ever met anyone from it at all – would say the most remarkable thing about the truly unremarkable village was the vast fields of lavender that grew around it and perfumed the village with its sweet scent, which did wonders to hide the smell of the livestock's waste that was left behind from the free roaming creatures.

As unremarkable villages go, not much would happen in Lurelin. That is, except a week or so ago something truly dark and devastating (dare I say remarkable, but in a negative way that no village wants) happened. The children of the village would often play in the lavender fields or the nearby forests, and one day they went out to play hide-and-seek. Only, one of the children was never found. The village eventually became alerted and sent out search parties for days to search for the young child with no avail.

There is a common saying in the Faron Province – 'dark things, dark souls' (which was a simple way of saying that darkness brought more darkness). And sure enough, nearly a week later two hooded men on horses approached the unremarkable (but now remarkable) hamlet. The villagers watched in wonder and fear as the two rode into the main part of the town, where most of the village had started to assemble to speak about their missing child and what to do next.

"There is't a single sight o' the boy," Lurelin, being a place of solitude, had its on way of speaking the common tongue.

The villagers nodded their head along as the farmer spoke, "And it an't no wolves. I know wolves, ma sheep would be spooked. They an't spooked."

The villagers had crowded around the tavern which they had formed into a town hall of sorts. The mayor, a ratty looking man with a patchy head of hair followed the conversation with little to say. "I think we should start considerin' haltin' our search and lookin' to build up our own defense."

"Defense's against what?"shouted a woman in the back.

"Now, I reckon it's Bulblin." The crowd shuttered at the man's words. The mere word brought back horrifying memories of the horror Faron suffered five years ago.

"You don't know shit, Jack!" Cried another villager.

"Well have you ever seen em'?" Jack yelled back.

"...No... but neither have you!"

"Yeah, well, I know it's a Bulblin for sure!" The crowd was getting heated, yelling between them to the point where nobody could hear their own words much less the words of the mayor who feebly tried to calm his townspeople.

It wasn't until the two horse riders came into sight that silence fell over the crowd, who turned to look over the riders with wide eyes. "Oh goddess, dark things, dark souls..." A woman muttered to herself as the first rider slipped off his horse.

Both the riders were cloaked in dark brown sheepskin cloaks. The rider who had dismounted was large by comparison of his companion, with heavy brown boots and a green tunic beneath the hood, he seemed like a wide giant among men. He had no weapon visible on him, but on his horse's saddle were several long steel blade that probably put the already on edge villagers more on edge.

"Fine day this is," The dismounted man finally spoke, his voice carrying an air of pleasantries, to which no villager responded. The dismounted man gave a confused glance back at his companion who merely gave a shrug back. "Hm, apologies it appears we have ridden in at a bad time. Allow us to introduce ourselves, we are-"

"We know who you are, Ranger," A particularly large villager cut off the man rather rudely.

"Oh, I see, excellent." The Ranger continued, "Then perhaps-"

"We don't want no trouble," the mayor quickly added to the increasingly annoyed man.

"We don't bring trouble... we hunt trouble..." He glanced around the worried looking villagers, "But, it seems like maybe trouble has found you. Why don't you invite us int that tavern right there, give my companion here food and drink and we can discuss what is ailing your village so?"

There was a silence among the villagers, who were either too afraid or too angry to want to invite the two in, yet finally the mayor spoke up. "Rangers, follow me. This business is exactly what your people deal with."

The second Ranger dismounted and both of them tied up their horses at the stall before making their way into the tavern, past all the villagers that watched them with silent gazes. Faron Rangers are deeply shrouded in mystery, governed by no lord or King they have roamed Faron for thousands of years. There are many rumors regarding them, some very obscene such as they feast on children or that they are mutants created from some abomination mixture of creature and man. Most can agree that they are not human nor are they Hylian, and even for their mystery they are fairly peaceful, having vowed never to harm those they protected.

The tavern was built too small and seemed a tad imbalanced, but the smell of ale, dried lavender and freshly baked bread was a welcoming to the weary travelers. The mayor took his seat behind a thick table of dark wood that looked as old as the village itself, stained from years of ale and grime. Drinks and food was brought to them as the Rangers took seats across from the mayor.

"What brings you boys to this part of Faron?"

"We're on a hunt," The older Ranger spoke first before taking a deep drink of the ale, to be truthful for a unremarkable village this was a fairly remarkable ale. "There's been a creature leaving a trail of bodies up and down this part of the region. We've been tracking it."

The mayor was made uncomfortable by this, he shifted in his chair and bit his lip. "Do you suspect... Bubilin?"

The two Rangers were silent for a moment, "Why do you expect that?" the younger one finally asked, his voice full of youth that you would expect from someone his age, yet there was also a level of coolness often void.

"A boy of ours went missing the other day, we been searching for him everywhere but we ain't found him yet. This is pretty nasty work, to steal a child... Bubilin would do it."

"Indeed," The Ranger seemed to confirm the mayor's worst fears at first, "However it is not a Bubilin. It's moving far to quickly, and it's targeting is erratic. I don't know if that calms your fears at all, but it's extremely dangerous and prefers the nights as well. I would keep your village on a strict curfew until we deal with this thing."

The mayor probably felt like everything was happening far too quickly and that this was not what he signed up for. However he at least had the intelligence not to argue with the men about what to do.

"Y-You don't want none of our help?"

"Oh no, not at all, not that we doubt your efficiency but we tend to work better alone. It's best you all stay and protect your own from any more harm." The Mayor seemed to have a weight taken off his shoulders, no doubt he had fears of having to try and hunt the monsters in the dead of night.

"So who are you exactly, Rangers?" The Mayor asked as the two sat up from the bench with the intentions of moving onto their hunt.

"This is Colin of Faron," he gestured to the younger Ranger who's light blue eyes shined through the hood, "I am Ezlo of the Picori. We'll find this darkness and rid it from your town, sir. That I promise."

The people of this tired town had found themselves caught in a struggle that they wanted no part of. The Faron Rangers and their undying crusade against a darkness that took no care to what it killed.

There was a reason that saying, 'dark things, dark souls' resonated with the Rangers so well. It was their beliefs that to hunt creatures of darkness, they themselves must have that darkness...

In truth, Faron Rangers were little better than the creatures they hunted. Demons in human skin, some may rightly call them... and the villagers weren't sure which they were more uneasy having around them now.

* * *

 **The Mouse**

One thing Mouse couldn't stand was the amount of meetings the Bombers had and how long they would stretch on for. They went on for hours this time, bringing in commander after commander of different part of the cities and then going over the autonomy of a Goron. Mouse wasn't sure what they were saying but she could accurately describe her day dream of stealing a ship, sailing across the great sea and plundering gold from the old kingdoms. It was pretty cool, she had an eye patch, long sword and a giant rat pet that would eat anyone who got in her way.

Overall, Mouse was pretty psyched to fight a Goron and was envisioning it as she, Rat and Red walked through the sewers. "Wah, wah, take that!" Mouse said under her breath as she attempted a poor high kick and a weak jab, "Yeah, take it you big old bolder! Eat my fists of doom!"

Rat was fairly silent while Red laughed aloud at Mouse's attempts at fighting. "Hey, Red what are you laughing at?"

"Um, wait, you weren't joking just now?" The younger boy stifled his laugh, "I mean you don't actually think you can beat a Go-"

Mouse smacked him over the head and tackled the boy, "Oi,, you shut it you little brat, Rat help me hold him down while I shave this disrespectful urchin," She was kidding of course, mostly, she might shave him a little.

Rat didn't respond at first while Red laughed and tried to push Mouse away, him not taking this seriously was annoying her greatly, "Hey Rat, come on! Come on-"

"Enough!" Rat finally yelled back, shocking the two younger orphans. "Just get off him, will ya? Gods you're annoying, Mouse."

Mouse and Red traded glances and she couldn't honestly figure out what could be bothering him. Reluctantly leaving Red unharmed she quickly followed along the dark halls of the sewer, moving fast just to keep pace with her older partner.

"Hey, you're moving awfully fast," She hoped it would slow him but he seemed to only quicken his pace. At some point Red broke off from the group and went down another hall, leaving an uncomfortable silence as Rat continued off to the exit. She didn't try and speak again and wondered what she did to piss him off so badly.

Mouse wasn't one for silence, it made her very uncomfortable and as they reached the exit she sped up and rounded him off. "Okay, okay just stop okay! Why aren't you speaking to me?! What happened? Was it Red? I can gut him for you, okay?"

Rat had that face of annoyance, his bony face twisted and eyes narrowed down at her. "How can you be so careless? Weren't you paying attention back there?"

"Um..." She probably should have, "I mean, I heard the bit about the gold and old kingdoms..." Wait no that was her fantasy.

"What are you talking about?" Rat said before shaking his head, "You know what, it doesn't matter."

"It does!" She was getting annoyed, "Just say it!"

"How are we going to steal from GORONS!?" He shouted in her face. "Do you realize how big those things are? I mean, what if they see us... what if they try and kill us...? We can't fight those things..."

Mouse wasn't sure what to say, in her fantasy it didn't seem so hard to kill one of those things, but she reckoned that Rat probably had a point – they were creatures of rock after all. Mouse had tried to stab a rock before and that only ended up dulling her blade _damn rocks, my natural enemy..._ she cursed to herself.

"I mean I guess I didn't really consider it... but hey don't be worried, I got your back we'll be fine! And if things get crazy we'll just slip out, no problem." Mouse assured him with an overconfident smile that just seemed to annoy Rat further.

"You never understand these things..." He said moving past her. She started after him before he called back, "Just leave me alone, Mouse. Really, just leave me alone."

"But..." That rejection struck Mouse to her core, she couldn't believe it, "But... we are partners!"

"Not today." He simply stated, rounding the corner and vanishing from her sight.

Mouse was frozen where she stood, she couldn't decide if she should scream out in anger, cry or both. She couldn't understand why he was taking this out on her, they had been partners for as long as she could remember and had gotten through so much together.

Finally building up anger she stomped her feet and shouted, "Yeah, well we ain't never gonna be partners again!" Of course he was long gone.

Mouse ventured out into the city alone now, knowing that the planned heist against the Goron wouldn't occur until later in the night, so she had plenty of time to kill and a stomach to feed. Food – for once perhaps in her life – didn't even cross her mind as she stormed about the city in anger, scorned by her only friend and left alone she wasn't entirely sure what she should be doing. She wandered aimlessly about the east district, perhaps pickpocketing a person or two but without Rat to compare her winnings to she felt like it was rather pointless.

"People always abandon you..." Mouse finally said to herself as she sat down on a bench by a shop run by a some very loud Deku who was shouting at passersby to try his wears. Loneliness was part of the role of being an orphan after all.

The district was packed with people, government workers and festival goers enjoying some pre-holiday shopping. Children hand in hand with their parents, smiles on their face as their parents bought them nicknacks and snacks, that type of thing made Mouse want to puke. They knew nothing of loneliness or hunger or hate.

In the midst of her rage there was one person walking through the crowd that seemed to not just catch her eye but everyone around him. It was the cloaked man (at least she thought so) from Stock-Pot Inn, the Faron Ranger and everyone seemed to be going out of their way to avoid the man. That interested her a lot, because like most people all she had heard about Rangers was the dark things that they did.

She was so fixated on the Ranger that she didn't even notice that the Deku was yelling at her and began (very rudely) shoving her from the bench with his long wooden arms.

"Away with you, orphan! Away, you're scaring customers away with your STENCH!" She did probably stink pretty bad, she did just come from the sewers after all. Not wanting to deal with the Deku she quickly moved away from the bench, yelling back some obscenities to the Deku before pushing her way back into the crowd.

 _Where did he go?_ She wondered, scanning across the crowd before spotting him walking up the steps towards the government portion of the district. That was a place she generally avoided because the town guards did not enjoy orphans mucking up their polished streets and statues.

Yet her curiosity was getting the best of her and she found herself following the Ranger deeper into the district. The district was lavish, a show of the economic might of the city in every way possible – the streets were lined in white brick the gleamed in the light, marble monuments sculpted by some of the finest artists in the land commemorated historic moments of the city while the entire part of the district was centered by a green oval space with flowers and trees that Mouse had never seen before. The buildings were particularly fantastic, built primarily with brick and rising many stories into the air it was the main operating place of the city's government. The government, which consisted of the mayor and a city council, were elected by Human and Hylian land owners (which were almost all male).

So naturally, a government elected by the ruling class of the city lavished itself with the finer things, like a self congratulation from the elite to the elite for building such a fantastic city of capitalism that was the envy of Hyrule's Domain. Even this part of the city smelled different.

"Well then..." Mouse said to herself as she continued her quest to follow the Ranger. He seemed to be moving right towards the Town Hall. Mouse quickened her pace after him, but not before jumping into the nearest fountain (when there were no guards around) to quickly clean the stench off her, much to the horror of those walking by.

Sure enough, the Ranger entered into the Town Hall, a great building with marble pillars and with at least two different marble statues of, what Mouse assumed, to be old mayors or something.

 _Now a normal person would give up their pursuit and turn around... but I'm far too bored for that._ Mouse tried her best to fix her hair and gave herself a good shake to try and dry herself like she was some dog before continuing forward. Attempting to follow the Ranger into the Town Hall was immediately met with a stern look from the guards who quickly barred her entrance.

"No, not a step further." The guard ordered, "Move along child, this is no place for you."

"I am a citizen of this city!" Mouse reminded pointlessly.

"Not the ones that matter, move along."

That stung the orphan and less resolved person might have just turned around and called it quits. Mouse, however, was a Bomber and a determined one at that. She rounded the side of the Town Hall and quickly caught sight of an ajar window that a sturdy branch seemed to get close enough to. Climbing up the tree like a squirrel she carefully crossed across the branch, licked her lips and then with little thought of the consequences leaped right through the window.

The room she jumped into was fairly well sized, centered with a deep red carpet that matched nicely with the dark brown wooden walls and fireplace that crackled lightly with a small fire.

"Oh my..." Mouse muttered to herself as she looked around the room. She had never seen a room so fancy in her life and very quickly was she going through the desk in search of anything worth pocketing, seemly forgetting about the Ranger she was following moments before. "What do we have here, oh my is this real gold?" She pocketed the gold letter opener and picture frame with silver and some type of jewels on it. She was about to continue going through it all when she could hear the faint voices of words coming from the other side of the door.

"Ohhhh shit!" Mouse yelped, turning back to the window and ready to leap out... when she realized there was no way she could make that jump BACK to the branch, "I did not think this through." See, Rat would have convinced her from doing something this dumb. If they caught her here she had no doubt they would run her through with a spear.

She scanned the room and without hesitation darted into the coat closet at the corner of the room, diving behind the very nice and comfy fur coats that hung there. Leaving the wooden doors slightly ajar she watched as the door to the office swung open and two people stepped in. The first was a particularly small man, perhaps 5'6, with long dark hair and a perfectly groomed mustache, he was dressed in decidedly Hylian fashion with a purple jerkin, dark blue doublet and white stockings that traced down to his leather shoes. A thick perfume followed the shorter man as he stepped lightly into the office and Mouse was not even a little worried that anyone would smell her over the intensely sweet smell. Following the smaller man was none other than the Ranger, his cloaked pulled down to reveal a scarred looking face with a short gray beard and graying brown hair, his eyes were the most unusual thing about him, which had the faint light blue glow to them that made him almost inhuman looking.

The first man said little until he rounded his desk and sat down on his chair, motioning for the Ranger to sit also, "You... you said you wanted to speak to me about my son?" The man's face was weary and screamed of sleep deprivation.

"Mayor Dotour," The Ranger spoke, surprising Mouse even further that she was in fact seeing the most powerful man in the city. "I have been hired to search for your son and I was hoping you could answer some questions I had."

"That's not what you Rangers typically do..."

"Excuse me?" The Ranger asked, perhaps a bit taken back from the Mayor's simple attitude.

"You hunt monsters right? Moblins and ReDeads? Searching for people doesn't exactly seem like your line of work..."

"I'm no longer with the order. I freelance," The Ranger (or, not Ranger?) explained, "Your son's fiancee hired me. Now I am very good at finding things, would you perhaps answer some of my questions?"

This seemed to perk the Mayor's interest yet his words didn't echo his expression as he waved him along halfheartedly, "Go ahead."

"Anju hasn't seen your son for over a week, when is the last time you've seen him?" Mouse couldn't believe it, Anju was engaged to the mayor's son? How did she not know this? Dotour was an extremely wealthy family and essentially royalty in Termina terms. Although she would suppose Anju wasn't exactly poor, her family own that inn in the middle of clock town so certainly she wasn't among the poor. Although judging by the way the Mayor's face twisted at her name she might as well have been an orphan like Mouse.

"I haven't seen my son in nearly a month... he does that, drop off the face of this city then comes crawling back when he needs more money." The Mayor said with more than a little disdain in his voice, "Do you have children, Ranger?"

The Ranger's face changed little as he spoke and didn't bother to answer the Mayor's question, instead pressing with his own, "So do you believe he's truly missing...?"

"Well..." The Mayor's voice stuttered off and he said something not even the Ranger could entirely hear, let alone Mouse.

"Mr. Mayor...?"

"Hm, no I was just saying that this is not unusual at all. Ranger I apologize for you being called in like this I'm afraid there is absolutely nothing to be found here. My son has a mind of his own and often find solace with some of the lowest parts of society, he is no doubt there, amongst his friends in that Curiosity Shop, so you can assure Anju that he will return when he decides it's time."

"Mr. Mayor perhaps-"

"I am actually extremely busy, Ranger. The festival will be here soon and there is much work to be done. I gave you a couple minutes and that's more than I would have given anyone else..." The Mayor quickly silenced the conversation, earning a rather stern look from the Ranger who stood up from his chair after a moment.

"I understand, thank you for your time." The Ranger turned quickly and began to walk towards the door, approaching the door before stopping in his track. He looked up from the door handle and began sniffing the room like some sort of dog, his gaze then slowly turned to the coat closet where Mouse was hiding.

"What is it, Ranger?" The Mayor asked the halted Ranger.

He didn't speak at first, instead his gaze fell directly on the coat closet and Mouse was sure he had somehow spotted her. She felt her breathing slow and she prepared herself for what would come next...

"Nothing at all, I will be leaving now." The Ranger finally spoke, turning towards the door and walking out much to Mouse's shock.

The Mayor's face changed little as the Ranger left, he seemed to be staring off in the distance, seemly lost in his own thought before a rattling knock on the door broke him from his thoughts. "Yes, coming!" he said, adjusting his collar before leaving the office entirely.

Mouse slipped out from the coat closet and wasted no time figuring a way out, she grabbed hold of the curtains and gently used them to crawl down the window until she was a good enough length to drop off and hit the ground with little pain. Thank the gods she was such a tiny child that the weight she put on it made little difference.

"Well that's enough adventure for today..." Mouse licked her lips, remembering happily all the nice things she had pocketed in there and knowing that she would be eating very well tonight. She took not a couple of steps from the window of the Mayor's window when the Ranger rounded the corner on her. She paused, eyes wide as she stared at the larger man with gaping mouth. "H-hi-"

He grabbed her by the scruff of her hair, "Who are you?" The Ranger demanded, his breath reeked of liquor.

"N-nobody!" Mouse cried, he tightened his grip that sent a painful wave through her head, "Ouch, stop! I'm just an orphan that's all!"

"What do you know about Kafei?"

"Who?!"

"Don't play dumb, the Mayor's missing son. Tell me."

"Nothing, literally nothing okay you've got this all wrong!"

"I saw you this morning at the Stock-Pot-Inn, and earlier you were doing a horrible job following me," he had seen her? Mouse was getting really afraid now, "And then you ease dropped in on my conversation. So cut it out and tell me the truth."

"Bite me!" Mouse hissed, grabbing the golden letter opener from her pocket and stabbing down on the Ranger's hand. It didn't go in deep, stopped after cutting through the thick leather glove he had on but going deep enough to break enough skin that Mouse was let free of his grip. She scrambled as he cursed the pain away, taking a quick step forward and using his unharmed hand to bash Mouse over the head. She fell to the floor and he placed his boot on his chest.

"Enough, I'm not going to kill you so stop it." He hissed, "Now you're going to tell me everything you know or I'm going to hand you over to the guards and from what I've heard about Clock Town guards, they'll kill you once they find the Mayor's property on you."

Mouse was left with little options at this point, after all he was beneath his boot and she was sure if he put enough weight down she would break quickly. "Alright, alright. Listen I didn't know Anju was getting married to the little guy's son, okay? I didn't, and I just wanted to follow you to see if it's true!"

"If what's true?"

"I mean... if... you... eat... kids..." Mouse said, seeing the Ranger's weird stare at her she hoped that was a 'no' although it would have been really entertaining to watch him chow down on some rich kid. "I mean I really hope that's not true, especially right now..."

There was a long moment where he just stared at her, perhaps shocked by her reasoning for following and Mouse was sure he didn't believe her. Mouse thought this would be the end of her, he would break her easily or do gods know what and there was nothing she could do now. Yet the confused face of the Ranger seemed to grow into a full laugh.

"You're in no danger as I've said," he laughed, letting the pressure off her chest before adding, "Besides I had a full breakfast."

He let the pressure off her chest allowing her to carefully to get back on her feet. "You know clock town well?" He asked, which she simply nodded back at him, "Do you know where this curiosity shop is?"

Mouse knew of it and the words sent a chill down her spine. There were so many rumors about that place that orphans like her would stay far away from it. She never really knew why but it was something they were constantly told and Rat was always very adamant about staying as far from it as possible. So needless to say she wasn't exactly excited to show this aggressive Ranger the shop's location.

"No, I mean Clock Town is huge. I guess I really don't know where it is, west clock town maybe? You should go check it out."

"Lies." He simply stated, "I can smell a lie. Don't you know Rangers can do that?"

Mouse didn't say anything but her eyes widened and she bit her lip, of course a demonic person like them would be able to tell when she was lying. He knew for sure now she was lying and patted her softly on her back to move her forward.

"Show me to it and then we'll go our separate ways, does that sound fair?"

"...That... that does sound fair." Mouse agreed. Actually the west district was the perfect place to lose this Ranger, because she knew this part of the city very little but the west was her streets. She knew exactly how to lose him if she had to.

The two of them started the long walk towards the west side of the city. People went out of their way to avoid them and she wasn't sure if they were avoiding her or the Ranger. There was a feeling about him that she couldn't exactly describe, but if she were to try to describe it, Mouse would begin by saying how you always knew when you were walking with someone even if they weren't directly in your view. You could feel their presence, well when she walked with the Ranger she could not feel that presence, even his large boots seemed to make little noise as they walked against the stones that lined the sidewalk.

"Why do you seek curiosity shop? You heard what the mayor said, he probably doesn't even want to be found." Mouse reasoned, she figured that Anju just wasn't getting the message that he wanted nothing to do with her.

The Ranger was silent for a moment, perhaps weighing the risks of explaining his thoughts to a orphan, before finally responding to her, "Dotour is one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Clock Town. These people are obsessed with appearances, so the head of the family would never let me know that his heir spends time in the west of Clock Town with the lowest of society. Perhaps somewhere in him he fears for his son's life and in his own way he asked me to continue the search."

Mouse hadn't thought of it like that, but the man clearly didn't care at all for his son, a loving parent would have protected their child and a parent that doesn't care would have simply left them – like her parents did, like the Mayor was doing to his son. "Sure buddy, sure." Mouse said with a shake of her head, "He didn't care, I'm an orphan and even I could see that. No love there."

"There was love," The Ranger stated, "Some people show it in different ways. Sometimes they have no choice."

Silence fell over them as they continued to the west district, it was a good couple of minutes before the Ranger spoke once more, "Do you have a name?"

"...Mouse..." She answered.

"That's not a name." He responded, "Do you have a name?"

Mouse would have punched him if she didn't fear that he would break her arm afterwords. She crossed her arms and felt her eyes tear up a bit, "M-maybe. Orphans don't know what they were called, okay?"

"Fair enough," The Ranger grumbled, "I am Rusl of the Faron Province."

Mouse didn't care, why would she care? He was just another cruel asshole who used his size and strength to make people do what they wanted. She would day dream often about jamming her knife deep into people like him. The world would be better for it too.

They reached the west district and Mouse immediately began planning her escape. There was no way she would bring this Ranger to where he wanted, in fact she was planning to lead him deep into the district and ditch him. She knew it wouldn't be long then until one of the local gangs found him, beat him up and took all that he had. Maybe she would find his stripped body later after they had dealt with him and finish him off. That would be a proper justice for the abuse he had shown her.

The Ranger was looking around more now, his eyes catching every poor person who glanced his ways from the alleyway and he seemed to know as much as they did how much he did not belong. Mouse had lead him far from the main road that was patrolled well by the city guards, this party of the city had a different authority on every street and they did not like outsiders.

"Is this the right way?" He asked as his doubts seemed to rise. Mouse didn't speak at all, she quickened her pace and before he knew any different she had burst into a run. "Stop!" He shouted but she was already running down the alleyway as fast as her legs could take her. She was quick and well used to running down these streets and she got over every little piece of trash that was left in the way. Soon she darted right under a make shift gate with a hole too small for the Ranger to follow and then made her way down a couple of other alleyways.

Mouse laughed, smiling widely as she continued to put as much distance between the two as possible. She slowed down a bit now, dusting the dirt off the dirt stained leggings, "Oh what a fool." She said to herself, "I mean my name is Mouse did you honestly think you could catch me, really? Hah!" She rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a group of ragged looking men who appeared to have been eating their lunch when the orphan stumbled onto them.

"Oh, sorry guys, wrong pathway." Mouse waved off, getting a bad feeling from the way the three were staring at her.

"Hang on!" One of the guys shouted, "Don't I know you?"

"Nope! Not at all," She didn't stop.

"No, no I do! What did you hear her say her name was, 'Mouse'? Wasn't that the kid who stole my rupees?" Suddenly Mouse recognized that voice, not a couple of nights back she and Rat had grabbed some poor loser's money when he wasn't looking and being the overconfident idiot she was she had shouted back at them. ' _You'll never catch the Mouse!'_

Mouse only looked back to see the three men begin to approach her and that was all the motivation she needed to start running again. This time she wasn't as lucky, one of the guys thought fast and threw something at her that was strong enough to make her tumble in her tracks and hit the ground. Before she knew it she felt the weight of one of her press upon her, shoving her head down onto the stone and smothering her. She struggled, fought but they were much stronger than she was.

"Where's my money, where is it!?" The man demanded feeling around her.

"Enough!" A voice shouted, the men stopped in their act and Mouse managed to peer up to see none other than the Ranger she had ditched standing before them.

"H-Hey!" Mouse said as she looked up towards him, "Y-you fell behind huh about time-" The man shoved her face back down to shut her up, cutting up her cheek on the stone flooring pretty good.

"What the hell...?" The man on top of her muttered, "Get out of here, this doesn't concern you."

"That child..." he began, perhaps a little out of breath from running, "She owes me."

"Well get in line," he snarled back at the Ranger.

"I don't think you understand. Get. Off. Her." His demand was made more clear when he reached behind his cloak and pulled out a long dagger.

"Oh you have no idea who you dealing with, huh...?" The man waved for his two friends to move forward as they drew out weapons of their own. "Come on boys, let's show him!"

The next following moments was the most refined act of violence Mouse had ever seen. The first man that charged the Ranger was face first on the ground so fast that she wasn't exactly sure what he did, the next tried to swing at him with his dagger but the Ranger moved so quickly and instead managed to stab his own weapon deep into the man's shoulder. At that point the man on top of Mouse had let her go and charged the Ranger, managing to catch him by surprise and plant his own knife into the Ranger's back. Yet it hardly went in!

"Ugh!" Rusl hissed as he turned fast on the man, grabbing by his neck and hoisting him into the air. "Do you know who I am...?" He said in a surprisingly cool voice.

"R-Ranger...?" The man croaked out, "Y-You don't kill people, you don't! You kill monsters! That's it!"

"Yeah, monsters." Rusl twisted the man's neck and the sharp snap sound, followed by his limp body indicated his death. The last surviving men were running quickly now in fear of their lives. Rusl didn't pursue them, instead he turned his attention towards Mouse, walking towards her slowly, "Are you okay?" He asked as he reached to help her up.

"I-I'm fine!" She quickly stood up, backing away from him out of fear for her own life. She glanced down towards the dead man before looking away, the sight of the dead person sickened her, she had seen dead people before but never had she seen someone killed. This was different somehow and it bothered her immensely, "Thanks..." She finally spoke out softly, "Are you going to hurt me now?"

"No... are you going to run?"

"No..." Mouse responded as he reached into his pocketed and pulling out a white handkerchief. He offered it to her and she took it, wiping her eyes of tears before pressing it to her bloody cheek. "So you want to go to the curiosity shop, right...?"

"I would like that."

"Okay, well, I'll take you there. For real this time."

* * *

 **The Princess**

Zelda stared silently from across the table at her younger brother, Daphnes, whose face was etched in unbelievable horror as he watched helplessly as his mother explained their father's decision. It was clear how the different years of experience showed between her mother and her young brother; their mother, with her long brown hair and tall shapely body, stood with poise and elegance even as she explained something that deep down Zelda knew she was unhappy with. Daphnes did little to guard the horror that was overtaking him – his eyes were wide and soft youthful face seemed to grow five years older with the stress that was overtaking him.

Zelda felt sorry for him, Daphnes was a soft child whose youth kept him soft to the world. His mother had forbade any strenuous activity on account of his weak lungs and Daphnes was far more interested in old poetry and tales of heroism to much care for swordplay. So, the hard decision their father had come to was one that clearly threw him through a loop – he would travel to the Termina Province to mentor under his uncle for a year in diplomacy. It was unlikely they could make it in time for the Festival of Time, but they would travel to clock town (dining with lords along the way) before venturing to Ordona. They then would come back to Hyrule before venturing out to other parts of the realm. This was horrifying for the Prince and equally dreadful for his mother who knew it would be awhile until she saw her child again.

"But mother," he squeaked softly, running his hand through his bright blonde hair in a nervous fit. "I-I can't, I just CAN'T."

"It's your father's orders. The King's orders. You cannot question it." She assured softly. His eyes traveled the room before falling onto Zelda as he stared like some helpless child in hopes that she would intervene to prevent this awful idea.

Zelda wasn't sure how she felt about it, on one hand she dreaded her brother to have to leave for such a long period of time, but their uncle was right – Daphnes was the heir to the throne, how could he be expected to rule the realm if he knew nothing of it? His subjects – and the lords that ruled the country – needed to see him, he needed to learn how to be a diplomat and rule Hyrule's fourteen unique provinces.

"Zelda, surely you can speak to father?" Did Zelda have anymore influence than her mother did? That was perhaps debatable, many spoke of their father's fondness for her and often let her sit in on meetings with the council. To be truthful, Zelda was far more fit to rule the realm than any of her siblings, but it was not a responsibility she wished for. It WAS going to be her responsibility, but that path had long been closed with the death of her husband.

"How could I question the King's wishes?" Zelda replied as she took the seat beside her brother. He wasn't as much of a child as they treated him – fourteen years old but looked far younger. She remembered well how Rhoam was at fourteen – a boisterous young man that enjoyed sword play far more than he should have. At that age the two siblings were good friends, they would play countless hours in the gardens, he was her knight that would protect her against the demonic insects. It always perplexed her how fast things had changed between them.

"But Termina is so far..." Daphnes dreaded, "How will I survive."

"You will not be alone," Zelda assured, "No member of the royal family would travel without a proper retinue. It will be fun, like in the stories – knights and shows and games. You will enjoy it surely."

He pushed away from the table, stubborn to admit that she might be right, "This is silly. Absolute nonsense, I will not go. I won't."

"Daphnes!" Their mother spoke sharply, catching the boy's attention from his worries. "That will be enough. You are to be KING someday. How do you expect to rule a people who has never seen you? Does the survival of your realm mean nothing to you?"

Daphnes eyes glistened with tears as he fought the urge to yell further, knowing that there was no good response to that question but to accept it, but his own stubbornness would allow him no such reprieve. He turned quickly from the two women and marched towards the door without saying another word, his mother's calls meant little to him and soon he was out of sight from them.

"It won't be so bad..." Zelda said, breaking the silence Daphnes had left in the room. "He will be better off for it."

"I know..." Her mother agreed, "He still acts like a child. He must become a man, otherwise, our family will be in peril."

Her ominous words shook Zelda a bit more than they should have. As far as she had been alive, Hyrule and its royal family had no real threat towards it and the mere thought of anything being capable of destroying them was almost laughable. But her mother was right; the family was only as strong as its members and none more so than the head of the family, if Daphnes was to truly rule someday he needed to learn to put aside his own needs and learn to lead. She knew he would, however, out of unfortunate timing the heir of the throne was young while the current King was getting more unhealthy by the day which meant Daphnes did not have the luxury of time that Rhoam had or that even Zelda had when she was in line for the throne.

After pleasant words had been exchanged and things died down Zelda retreated to her chambers and slept away the cool night. She had gotten used to sleeping alone once again, yet every now and then the changing of the guards outside her bedroom would rustle her awake and for a brief, sleep induced moment she thought that maybe Link had returned. It filled her with anguish and anger, with every passing day Hyrule seemed to care less and less about retrieving his body or sword.

But she had not given up hope and would wield whatever influence she had to motivate people to continue to search. Her influence only extended so far; the Faron and Ordona Grand-Lords would claim they were still looking but little evidence suggested they put any effort into it. She had spent countless gold to hire people to search but that turned up very little and her father had forbade sending any more knights to the region to search. She had even reached out to the Faron Rangers, an old order that had once devoted themselves to the Chosen Hero, yet their reply was simply 'they do not take orders from any members of the Royal Family'. She had not given up, the Princess of Hyrule had a great many tools at her disposal...

The next morning did not come fast enough, she did not break her fast with her family but instead had her food brought to her chambers. The tray of food had barely been touched when her first visitor knocked on her door.

"You may enter," Zelda, who was sitting elegantly in a morning gown and freshly brushed hair, lightly sipped her tea as the doors to her chamber opened up to allow two individuals to enter. One was an older woman, her age perhaps in the eighties, she stood hunched over and very slowly entered the chamber. Following behind her was man following closely behind, his tall stature and unmoving figure said that he was a personal guard of the woman who did not move past the doorway. Each one of them were dressed in traditional Sheikah clothing.

"Princess," The lady bowed her head before taking a seat at Zelda's urging. Lady Lon-Lon poured the Sheikah tea before leaving the two of them alone.

The Sheikah was Zelda's last true hope, the ancient order had served the Royal Family for ages, guarding each successive first daughter and ensuring their safety. There weren't many of them left and were mostly considered elusive people living in small hamlets across the countryside.

"Impa," Zelda began addressing her guest, "I am most thankful for you to come out today to speak, I know the travel must not have been easy."

"But for the Princess, the travels were worth it." Impa assured, "Now tell me what you could not say in writing."

Zelda knew what she was going to ask was difficult, and even illegal by Hyrule law. Yet they were her true last hope and she was willing to break the laws of her kingdom to do so. "You see, what I ask you to do is truly... difficult, it's not an easy thing to ask."

"I find," Impa started in a painfully slow pace, "That simply speaking it makes it much easier to explain, rather than try and explain why it is hard to say."

Zelda would laugh if it didn't stress her out so, Impa was a no-nonsense woman that ruled over her people with decisiveness Hyrule royal family might envy. "Very well... the Sheikah are some of the most renowned individuals in our realm. I have pleaded with my father's armies and lords and sell swords to retrieve the master sword and my husbands body yet time and time again they have turned up nothing. It is my belief that the Sheikah are the only hope to finding him..."

Impa sipped her tea as she listened intently, "Ah, you see the problem lies on the location. The Chosen Hero fell in the Ordona Province. By the treaties of the faith war state that the Faron and Ordona Province are off limits to the Sheikah people..."

That was the difficult part indeed – an age old treaty that was created to preserve the peace in one of the most violent civil wars in Hyrule. A brief explanation of the war was this – the religion of Hyrule was fractured, several followings had risen over Hyrule's long history about how the Goddess Hylia should be honored. The Royal Family professed faith that their first daughter was a conduit for the Goddess, Hylia, and that the man who could wield the legendary Master Sword was to marry the Princess and together they would protect the realm in the name of the Goddess. Yet, there was one particular order that held a different way of faith, that the Royal Family was blasphemous for claiming their Princes was a conduit and that the Chosen Hero should have nothing to do with the family. It was believed that there was no such thing of the Goddess Hylia and that they only honored the original three Goddesses that created the world.

That order was guarded by holy soldiers known as Rangers, a group of warriors founded by none other than the Chosen Hero himself many centuries ago and they would carry out his mission of protecting the realm from monsters. Many Chosen Heroes were in fact from the Rangers over the years...

Yet this division of faith brought war, and the Rangers were a fearsome foe, the royal family eventually won over by unleashing the Shiekah on them in what could only be called a massacre of faith. There were holdouts however, no matter how long they tried the Rangers who operated out of Faron could not be defeated, which eventually led to a treaty that brought peace back to them – the Rangers in Faron would be left alone and the Shiekah, who had killed so many of their people, would remain out of Faron and Ordona. The Royal Family happily accepted this, as they confirmed their control over the religion and mostly eliminated a pesky religious alternative to their word... yet now that treaty would keep Zelda from sending out the one people who could find what remained of her husband.

"I'm aware of the limits placed by the treaties," Zelda nodded to Impa's words, none of them needed a history lesson on this, "Which is why what I ask of you cannot be found out by anyone else. Your people pledged protection of me, not my family, me and my husband is still out there somewhere. He needs to be brought back and his sword returned to the Temple. I am asking you to send your people to find him..."

A Princess should never beg, yet she wasn't below doing so at this point. She was growing more desperate with every passing day and if Impa rejected her request she would not know what else she should do.

"I understand your grievance Princess, the loss of the Chosen Hero has pained all of us but none more so than you. I would like to ease that pain, but I cannot put my people at risk without proper motivation."

"Motivation?" Zelda repeated, "You wish to negotiate with me?"

Impa smiled a wide, devious smile. Zelda would have screamed for her to remove herself from her chamber had she had an alternative. How dare this woman act so presumptuous towards her?

"...Very well..." Zelda agreed reluctantly, "What is it you wish for?"

"After the faith wars my people were not just forbidden entrance into the Faron and Ordona Province, but our research and technology had to be halted and turned over to the Royal Family." Zelda was aware of that aspect, the reason why the Sheikah preformed so well against the Rangers were the technologies that they had created. The Royal Family rightly feared this and part of the treaties that followed the bloody war saw the end of such creations. "We know your influence with the King is great. See to it that the Shiekah may resume our efforts into studying new technologies and we'll find and return your husband and the sword."

Zelda wasn't sure how she felt abut that... but the Sheikah were loyal to the Royal Family and their numbers had dwindled overtime. They weren't a threat but an asset, a more powerful Sheikah translated into a more powerful Hyrule – and so perhaps it was time to end that age old rule and allow the return of Sheikah innovation. After all, the Humans, Gorons and Zoras were allowed to create and innovate then why not the Sheikah?

"I vow to you that I will do all in my power to remove those aspects of the treaty, madam." Zelda gave her decision to the delight of the older woman.

"Wonderful!" She said with such excitement that Zelda didn't think she was capable of, "Then Princess Zelda, I vow on behalf of the Sheikah people that I will bring back the Chosen Hero so that he may have the burial he deserves."

Those words drove such a rush through Zelda's heart that it forced a smile onto her face. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this happy. She felt like Link was already on his way back to being returned to her...

Later that day Zelda watched as her Uncle departed Hyrule with an impressive retinue by his side; fifty sworn knights, one hundred foot soldiers and forty trained archers, a dozen or so servants for every member of the royal family and the Prince and Princess of Hyrule – Dahpnes and Tetra.

Tetra was older than Dahpnes by a year and a half but in that moment she seemed twice his age – she bore a beautiful smile, her tanned skin and medium length blonde, messy hair contradicted the white and pink elegant dress she wore (she was insisting on riding a horse and not in a carriage). Tetra was over joyed to leave the castle and explore the domain, she had a streak of wild blood that seemed to drive her forward, like a stubborn horse, and it wouldn't surprise Zelda one bit if she simply ran off one night while gone on their trip. Dahpnes on the other hand, with a purple cloak and white doublet made of the finest silk, looked absolutely miserable and even at a distance Zelda could see the tears in his eyes as the horse carried him away from the castle.

Even now Zelda had the nostalgic feeling of five years ago watching her husband lead away his knights. Yet there was a different feeling this time, then she felt the dread of him leaving yet now... it was a feeling of return. When her handmaiden asked why she was smiling so much Zelda simply replied;

"The sun," she said beaming, "I've never seen such a beautiful thing."

Perhaps light was finally returning to this dreaded kingdom.


	4. Part One Chapter Three

Alright, so I'm finished with my semester which is a huge relief. So far this story has been a thrill to write, and I know it can be slow but we're going to be ramping up things pretty soon. I don't have much to say but thanks for the support I've been receiving, hope everyone enjoys it!

* * *

 **The Ranger**

The purple fields of lavender swayed as the wind swept across, creating the illusion of a great purple blanket shifting and fluttering like waves of sea. The winds drifted in the from east and went westward with the fresh smell of lavender with it, bringing it through Lurelin and greeting the villagers to a sweet morning. The sun hadn't yet peaked up from beyond the hill yet and by request of the Rangers the villagers would not leave their homes until the sun was fully gazing upon the people, so this moment of peace was enjoyed by few in the village.

Overlooking the field of lavender on the small hill Lurelin sat upon was a young man enjoying the cool morning breeze and the peaceful, dancing fields below. The young man's shoulder length brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, he sat in his simple brown, short sleeved tunic with white leggings and thick brown boots with a composite bow and quiver full of arrows sitting beside him. His eyes, which hummed with a sort of blue glow watched the horizon with a watchful care.

The calm peace was interrupted when the soft steps of his much larger partner approached from the town. Colin turned towards Ezlo, greeting the older man with a nod in his direction before glancing back down at the fields below.

"Sleep escapes you?" Ezlo asked as he took a seat besides him. Ezlo may have appeared older with his grey hair and beard, but he was fit, walked with almost as much youth in his steps as Colin did and could swing a broadsword as easily as a child could swing a stick.

"I slept..." Colin replied, his voice soft, as if fearing anything louder would disrupt this peace he treasured so. The look of doubt from Ezlo made Colin quickly adjust his claim, "For a bit."

"She haunts you...?"

Colin looked up towards the sky, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air before closing his eyes. Even now he could so clearly see it – the deep sea with the woman in the white dress calling his name. "It's getting worse." He admitted, "Before I would float along with her and she would speak to me so softly... it was peaceful, I would be at ease, yet now I no longer float... I sink."

Ezlo ran his hand through his beard, thinking about the painful words from his younger partner. "She is trying to speak to you."

"She is making me suffer." Colin replied back quickly, his thoughts conflicted and emotions flayed by the lack of rest.

"No, it is not something to fear." Ezlo stated, putting his hand upon Colin's shoulders, "Not until you can truly speak and understand her message will you see that this is a gift, not a curse..."

"How can you say what I am could possibly be anything but a curse...?"

Ezlo fell to silence, looking over the horizon and taking in a deep breath, letting the morning air fill his lungs, "We are all curses upon this world, Colin. We reap whatever we wish, kill and maim whom we want and divide how we see fit. Hylians, Humans... Rangers... we all have our curses, what matters is that we use our own curse to make this world a better place. A safer place. You have that opportunity in more ways than most people do."

"I know my duty..." Colin nodded solemnly, no matter his youth, the things he had experience had aged him far beyond his peers, "It's a difficult weight to bear, however..."

"You will come to terms with it, someday. We all do..." Ezlo stood up from the ground, motioning for Colin to do the same. "Now come on now, our hunt begins today..."

The two of them moved through the lavender and went southward to where the children claimed they were playing in the nearby wooded area. There was thin lair of mist below the trees, the ground wet with due and the air moist and sweet smelling. The distant sound of a creek ahead of them was the only sound aside from the birds and insects that made their presence known.

"The children said they were just beyond the creek," Colin echoed the information they had gained yesterday. They had taken much needed time interviewing villagers and gaining as much information about the people and the town.

The child – and the only one who went missing – was horribly young, ten years old with shaggy brown hair and was wearing a simply white tunic when he went to play. His name was Kinov, he liked pumpkin pancakes and goat milk like most boys around Faron. More relevant was the fact he was the best hider in his little group, often finding up high places to hide where the kids would not look (or were too afraid to look).

"We are trailing behind this thing you know..." Colin reminded as they approached the creek – small and perfectly easy for young children to cross without harm. There was a small little makeshift bridge the children had put together to get across without getting wet which indicated they were on the right path, "Kinov went missing over a week ago now. If this thing follows the same pattern it's been, it's already long gone."

"Well that's what we are here to figure out. What do we know of it so far?" Ezlo asked with a small glance back towards Colin.

"Hm?" Colin hummed, following Ezlo across the creek.

"Tell me what we know of it. Come on, memory of fact is important to hunting."

Colin shook his head of annoyance as he thought back to what they knew, "There has been no distinct pattern of attack. The first victim was an old goat farmer, the second a lonely widow on her farm and the third now this child. There has been no bodies we could find and the creature has never stayed long enough to hurt more than one person. It only travels in the nights which tells me it's vulnerable enough to be hunted – so it fears being caught."

"And it only attacks outsiders, which tells us that it wants to stay far away from humans as possible. Perhaps there has been far more wildlife victims, perhaps killing these humans were more of an accident." Ezlo added.

"It moves far faster than anything on two legs. And it's silent... it grabbed that kid without anyone hearing so much as a scream. Which is very peculiar, this forest is very quiet and I'm sure those kids would have heard someone."

"I agree." Ezlo confirmed with his own thoughts, "Now keep close and let's have a look around. See if we can find anything that may help us track this thing."

That was a long shot, with it being over a week ago much of the needed information would have been lost over this time. Blood and tracks would most likely be long gone, they would be looking for more permanent signs of its presence – a struggle perhaps, upheaval of ground or damage to nearby trees that a normal creature would not have done.

Colin bent close to the ground, breathing in the air for any abnormalities. Rangers had heightened senses and although Ezlo's was far more attuned, Colin could do well enough to catch the scents he was looking for. He ran his hands against the ground, feeling the moist morning dew against his fingers before pressing it close to his face and smelling it deeply.

"The earth..." Colin spoke, "It has wept deeply. Something unnatural has scarred this land." He crept softly along the ground, doing his best to place himself into the role of Kinov...

" _Count until ten now, and don't you peek!"_ Colin imagined as the six children broke from the circle they had formed. Each running off into different directions, another child named Luv followed close behind Kinov (he was the final child to see him, as they determined from their previous interviews) as they raced along the forest. North, Luv said, along the creek they raced.

" _Where will you hide, Kinov?"_ The younger child had asked Kinov.

" _I can't tell you!"_ Kinov laughed, _"Go now!"_

" _Okaaay, just don't climb anywhere too high!"_

It wasn't difficult to piece together the conversation that likely occurred after they had spoken to Luv. Colin walked along the river, his eyes tracing the ground carefully to look for anything unusual, "No, no, he didn't find his hiding place yet. Must have been further off if none of the children had seen his assailant."

Luv had continued off north across the creek, Kinov didn't cross the creek nor did he go back, so he likely went westward – deeper into the forest. Colin could almost see it as Kinov raced away into the forest, eying every tree carefully as he decided which had more cover to hide in.

"These are too sparse... I can see up into them easily..." Colin moved deeper into the woods, Ezlo following shortly behind him as he himself seemed to be coming to similar conclusion. Colin could feel his heart begin to pick up pace, like Kinov would have been...

 _Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five..._ The seeker would have been shouting. Kinov would have been searching for a spot quickly now, knowing his time was running out and he needed time to climb. He couldn't have gone too much further in. _Four, three, two, one, here I come!_

Colin stopped in his tracks, his eyes turning upward into the taller trees that laid before him. He eyed every tree carefully, looking for anything that might have given a hint to where he had been.

"He was a good climber, everyone said so..." Colin spoke to himself quietly, "He would have spotted the perfect tree right away." Colin laid his eyes upon a thick oak tree with strong branches and a great many grooves to help a young child climb into. The Ranger walked around the tree, his eyes immediately catching the sight of a broken branch that hung by a thin piece...

"Kinov climbed up here, put his weight on a week branch and it snapped. He didn't fall though, he kept moving higher..." Colin pulled himself up the tree, following Kinov's tracks carefully. "He would have found the branch that gave the ground the least amount of sight." Sure enough, a hefty branch concealed by other branches caught Colin's sight. He carefully pulled himself up the tree until he reached the branch, finding some engrained markings on it, perhaps Kinov had carved something into the tree with a rock or knife he had.

"What do you see up there?" Ezlo called from the ground, "I can barely see you from here!"

"I can see so much!" Colin replied, indeed the branch gave a beautiful view of the forest ahead. "But what did you see, Kinov...?"

Colin scanned the horizon with care, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary in the view. The forest seemed to grow the further out it was, large trees, perhaps thousands of years old stood in the far distance. The villagers had aptly called it the 'Forest of Old', it reminded Colin of the Lost Forest not too far from where he grew up...

Yet something caught his eye – it didn't seem like much at first, yet there seemed to be a sheen cascaded over a good bit of the trees close to the Forest of Old, once staring at it for a bit it differently stood out as unusual and he suspected Kinov had been up here for awhile, eventually he would have spotted it too.

Colin slid down the tree and landed expertly next to Ezlo.

"Well?" Ezlo asked as Colin dusted himself off.

"West. There is something unusual stringing across the trees..." Colin explained, "Could be nothing..."

"Perhaps, do you think Kinov would have ventured further out alone?"

"He was brave... he would climb these tall trees when no one else would, so yes, I think when he wanted to do something he would do just that."

"Excellent," Ezlo said with an approving smile. The two Rangers moved further into the forest with the intent to investigate it further. Colin knew where they were going easily enough, Rangers didn't get lost so easily. The sun was shining brighter now when they got closer, yet the sun could barely get through the canopy of leaves that covered them.

"These trees are ancient..." Ezlo said placing his hand against the worn trees, "The things they must have endured. Better Rangers could speak to the trees, you know?"

"Did they?" Colin simply wondered how that could be or what they would say... "There is much I do not know."

"You will learn over time. We never stop learning." They walked further until Ezlo raised his hand. "Hold it... do you hear that?"

Actually, what Ezlo meant by that was the lack of anything to hear at all, the birds had halted their incessant chirping and insects seemed to have vacated the area as well. Colin lifted his bow over his shoulder and placed two arrows into his hand as they carefully advanced further.

He could imagine Kinov walking through these woods, he wondered if the child had noticed the vacancy of life as well? If he had, did he try and turn around? Colin could not guess any further... he would have to see now. He knew he was getting close.

It was then they had seen what caught Colin's eye before – strung across the surrounding trees was a vast entanglement of webbing. Not just on the upper trees but on the lower end as well.

"By the Goddesses..." Colin said in shock but not another word crept from his lips as both men prepared themselves for what could be ahead. They stepped a bit deeper, the webs high and low had small balls of webbing for what appeared to be small animals that had been trapped and stored within the webbing.

Colin lifted his head into the trees and caught eye of something that immediately made his heart drop. One of the sacks had a similar size that a human child would be, perhaps exactly the same size that Kinov would be. Colin motioned towards the sack and then began to climb up the tree towards it, hoisting himself onto the branch closest to the sack he pulled out his dagger and gently slit open the sticky webbing.

"Kinov..." Colin whispered to what he presumed was the boy. A child that matched Kinov's description of brown short hair and dark eyes, was visible in the sack unmoving. He looked down at Ezlo and gave a look that could only confirm what they had feared. They needed to bring him down from the tree and get him home now...

Colin gently cut parts of the webs that were holding him until it was just a thick single web of webbing that he used to gently lower him down towards Ezlo.

Whatever had done this was no doubt close, and sure enough as Kinov's body was close to the ground when Colin caught sight of something– the glint of something hiding in the shadow of the tree. It was fast and in a mere moment something came charge out towards Ezlo. "EZLO!" Colin shouted, the older Ranger turned fast as the creature lunged at him. The creature was something Colin had never seen before – long, oversized spider with four legs on either side and a hardened shell over its torso. It was large enough that, when standing on its hind legs, it was twice the size of Ezlo.

Ezlo reacted in such a quick, inhuman way, when he rolled directly out of the creature's way Colin might have doubted the older man's age. Ezlo drew his blade and Colin let Kinov fall the rest of the small distance to the ground, grabbing his bow and preparing his arrow.

"Well, you're not supposed to be here..." Ezlo was more than a little stunned and he brought his broadsword in a defensive stance. The creature attempted to close the distance between the two but Ezlo kept it back with quick jabs of his blade.

The creature was hissing at Ezlo as it tried to circle him, so focused on the older Ranger that it didn't pay any attention to Colin who had notched his arrow and taken aim. He released his arrow, which flew down with perfect accuracy and lodged itself right into the notch between its outer shell and its legs, not going deeply but deep enough to make green, acidic blood pour onto the grass. It roared, and before Colin could notch another arrow it had charged again – this time away, running in the opposite direction and towards the deeper part of the woods.

Colin let off another arrow that bounced harmlessly off its armor and in a mere moment it was gone into the darkness. The Ranger slid off the tree and onto the ground, ready to give chase when the heavy hands of Ezlo seized him.

"Stop!" Ezlo called, catching Colin by disbelief.

"W-What? Come on we've almost got it. Let's go finish this thing!"

"No!" Ezlo roared, "We aren't prepared to fight one of those things, let alone how many others are out there!"

"So what are we going to do, leave it?" Colin asked in disbelief.

"No..." his partner replied with a shake of his head, "We are going to bring this child back and we are going to properly prepare. Then were going to kill this thing, on our terms."

Colin felt angry and in disbelief, how could they just let that thing go after it had senselessly killed Kinov? It was then he realized that he was taking this far too personally, Rangers had to be calm and collected in these circumstances, not consumed by feelings that bogged humans down. Colin had no idea what they were facing and it seemed Ezlo had some sort of clue and knew that going after it recklessly would be dangerous. A Ranger never entered a situation without properly preparing themselves to face their hunt.

"O-okay..." Colin agreed, "Let's get Kinov back to his family."

On their walk back Colin couldn't help but wonder what was going through Kinov's mind when it all went down. Did he get caught in the web? That creature moved so fast that Kinov stood no chance of getting away from it. He wanted to feel sad for the child, but he knew he had to distance himself, this was his job and this would not be the first or last time he carried a dead child.

They stopped at the creek and carefully cut away all the webbing that was attached to the child.

"Been dead for over a week," Ezlo began as he looked over his body, "The body is being preserved by the venom but that smell is undeniable rot. He was bitten in the chest, not viciously, almost gently..."

"Gently...?" Colin questioned glancing at the two fanged wound on the boy's chest.

"It could have ripped his skin clean off his chest, but it didn't. The boy died from the poison," he gently took some of the secreting liquid from the wound and held it to his nose to smell, "It's a paralysis actually. Had this been you or me, we would still be alive, but a boy his age wasn't able to resist this type of level of toxicity, his organs shut down no doubt."

"...So what was that thing?" Colin said as he gently closed the boy's eyelids and picking him back up.

"It was a Gohma." Ezlo explained with a sour look, "They never leave the Lost Forest. Under treaty with the Rangers, they stay there and we leave them alone."

Colin had to repeat that in his head, he found it hard to believe the Rangers would ever make a deal like that, "So then why was it here? They broke the, ugh, treaty?"

"That I do not know. But... it seemed scared."

"Perhaps that's why it's been running as much as it has..." Colin theorized as they crossed the creek.

"Maybe, but it will not run any further..."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because the Forest of Old reminds it of home and something tells me it misses home..."

That was beyond Colin's ability of understanding, but he saw it's reasoning – it stayed there for over a week or so since it arrived and likely would not leave again. Which was fantastic for them, they could properly prepare and next time they would finish it off and ends this dark creature's life. Ezlo seemed far more concerned about the broader implications of this, Colin wouldn't concern himself with such things right now – they had a mission that Colin was ready to complete.

* * *

 **The Banished**

The pilgrims path had been fun at first and the idea intrigued Rhoam more than he would let Urbosa know. It was a road supposedly so holy that if any theft, murder or other crimes committed on this road it would make you a sanctioned outlaw across all of Gerudo lands. The road stretched across many city states and countries of the Gerudo and if you followed it you could easily find the largest cities in this region along it. There were massive shrines dedicated to the Sand Goddess along the way and there was always caravans of pilgrims making their ways to the temple to pay their respect for their goddess.

It was rather fun at first, yet at they made their way deeper into the territory it became far less entertaining. At the start of the journey they stayed in hotels and slept well, but as they moved further from civilization and deeper into the vast uninhabitable Gerudo Desert things became a bit more tense. The crowds became sparser and just the other day they found a girl who had gotten lost with her family while following the road, she had told the two of them and a couple of other pilgrims that the rest of her family had died and she had eaten her brother just to stay alive. That gruesome tale took the fun right out of the journey but Urbosa seemed to care little.

"Stick to the road and we'll be fine..." Urbosa reasoned with a shrug of her shoulders before they carried on with their journey.

The deeper they went the more Rhoam wished he was battling angry assassins rather than dealing with the horribly hot days and freezing nights. The weather was so unusual that they timed their journey well, venturing out in the cool morning hours and stopping during the height of the sun and hiding under their tent, then going out again before nightfall when they would huddle together as the temperature dropped quickly.

"Do you think we should be worried?" Urbosa asked one night as they laid huddled together in their tent.

"About what...?" Rhoam muttered as sleep tugged away at his conciseness.

"The assassins from before."

"Nah," Rhoam mumbled as he buried his face into the blanket for warmth, "I'm far more worried about freezing my privates off right now. Blasted cold."

The next day they were off early in the morning again for another day of traveling through the seemingly endless desert. The sun was beginning to rise high into the sky now and the heat was bearing upon them harshly, Rhoam pulled the hood further over his face but surely they would call time to rest soon enough. He had been so busy trying to resist the urge to faint that he barely noticed a figure off in the distance waving towards them.

"Hello!" The woman in a black hood called over to them. "Traveling pilgrims, please stop for a moment!" She urged, the woman was on her knees and didn't look to good.

"We don't have the supplies to help anyone," Rhoam reminded Urbosa. They had packed well but who knows how much longer they would need to survive out here, they couldn't spare anything to a another traveler.

"It won't be a sin to let someone die on this holy road..." Urbosa merely responded as she pulled her horse to a stop, "Sav'aaq, traveler. What is the problem?" The term sav'aaq essentially translated into 'good day'.

"My horse was stolen from me last night," The woman, who seemed young, perhaps in her late teens spoke to them with a weak voice, "It had all my provisions with it. Now I am without my horse and none will stop and help me."

 _Perhaps because this reeks of a scam,_ Rhoam thought, glancing around to see if they had just walked into an ambush. Urbosa may have believed in the sanctity of the holy road but to Rhoam it was just a road. He had no doubt others had similar views.

"I couldn't let a fellow _vehvi of the Goddess_ go without. Come, we are about to set up camp until the midday sun passes, you may join us." Rhoam knew how to speak the language of the Gerudo fairly well but certain words were lost on him, he thought she might have said 'child' but honestly he didn't care enough to ask.

"Bless you," The woman thanked sincerely. They road for a few more minutes until they found a good place to set up camp about a mile down the road,a small grove of trees and cacti. While Rhoam dismounted and began to set up their tent Urbosa went to bleed the cacti of water for them.

"I do not often see Hylians in these parts," The woman said to Rhoam as he propped up the tent, the shade was a welcome relief from the sun, "What brings you here...?"

Rhoam didn't want to talk but he could feel the woman's gaze on the back of his skull and it wasn't letting up, "I'm a slave, not much of a choice really."

"No you aren't."

Rhoam shot her a look, confused by her statement, "Then what a joy that must be. I am free now, apparently..."

She laughed at his sarcasm, "No, no, a slave owner would never let their slave have such a fine weapon like that outside of the fighting ring. So who are you really? Obviously someone who doesn't want to be figured out... Hylian right? Hmm, that accent... sounds like you're from central Hyrule... fine blade too, perhaps you stole it? Perhaps it is yours...?"

Rhoam didn't much like this line of questioning at all and this kid was getting far too close to the truth, which shocked him profoundly. In all his time here he had never met anyone who much questioned his story like this child was. Should he kill her? She was getting close to the truth after all and she was rather annoying too.

"Oh relax..." The woman waved off, "This is a pilgrims road, I do not care who travels on it really, we are all equals here. Hylians, Gerudo... even slaves, dare I say."

"Hm..." Rhoam kept an eye on her as she slipped off the cloak, revealing what was certainly a woman in her teens with long red hair, green Gerudo eyes and dark skin. She wore as little as possible while still being decent for Gerudo standards. Rhoam pulled the cloths off his head that was acting like a cloak and paid the woman no mind, thankful for when Urbosa came back with more water for them.

Urbosa stripped off the unessential clothing just as they did, wearing only light cloths that covered what was necessary and letting her body breath. He might have taken the time to admire her body but the heat was too much and all he wanted to do was sleep it off.

"Here, drink," Urbosa said after she poured the water into the bowl. The girl took a drink first before passing it over to the two of them, each taking turns to sip the water. "You seem rather young to travel here all alone, if you don't mind me saying."

"Perhaps," she agreed, "But the call of the goddess can be ignored by none. It's been my desire to make this pilgrimage for awhile now."

"I've been here twice, my mother would preach the words of the goddess where I grew up, always saying how important it was to make the pilgrimage. On the holy road, all are equal." Urbosa said with a bright smile as she thought back to her mother. It has occurred to Rhoam that he actually knew very little about Urbosa's parents, he avoided talking about his family so he never really asked about hers.

He used the hood as a cushion and laid his head back as the two of them talked on. He didn't care for the damned sand goddess and he certainly didn't care about this damn pilgrimage. This was ultimately a waste of time – gold was his god and this week had been time he could have spent earning it.

After the heat of the day passed they continued their travels with the girl in toe, she had said her name was Barta and that she was traveling from a town down south. They were close enough to the site now that more travelers were a frequent sight now that the roads from all over the region were converging. Signs of civilization – albeit simple – were beginning to appear with small villages built in the outer portion of the sacred ground becoming visible. The village were filled with monuments and hotels and merchants selling to the weary along with perhaps many thousands of pilgrims that were beginning to arrive for the sacred day.

"Finally..." Rhoam said to himself as the sign of people were a welcome delight. "So, explain to me what will happen now..." He whispered over to Urbosa as they dismounted their rides and began to lead them through the crowded streets.

"The pilgrims will crawl on their hands and knees to the spirit temple, leave our offering by the goddess statue and return. After three days of prayer and minimum consumption of food, we will return to the spirit temple and receive blessing."

"Crawling on your hands and knees? Minimum consumption of food? Oh, this sounds dreadful." Rhoam didn't like the sound of that. He was thankful that he did not intend to do anything like that nor did Urbosa expect him to. He would likely sit around in one of the hotels and drink away the three days, which sounded far more entertaining than what she was going to do. "Well you have fun with that. Getting close to your goddess and all, sounds like good fun."

"You don't have to take part in this but I would advise you to keep your opinions to yourself. There are many here who will kill if you insulted the Goddess." Urbosa reminded, "Now shall we find a place to eat before the crawl begins? Barta would you like to join us?" She asked glancing back towards Barta who had been tailing behind them shortly.

"That would be wonderful." The three of them found an inn that served them some traditional Gerudo food of mashed chickpeas drizzled with olive oil and served with a fresh bread and lam roasted in garlic. Rhoam washed it down with a stiff, sweet smelling alcohol that was probably among the strongest of liquors he had ever had. As they ate down their food without much conversation three men dressed in dark leather armor stepped into the inn, looking through the guests who watched them with uneasy gaze. Rhoam felt uncomfortable as they silently ventured into the inn, glancing among the people before leaving without a single word spoken.

"What was that all about?" Rhoam question caught the voice of a nearby patron.

"They been here all day, searching for some Princess or something..." He responded back, "They won't harm no one. Unless you hiding the Princess of course."

"No Princess here," Urbosa replied with a small chuckle, "Just pilgrims."

 _Well, perhaps a Prince..._ Rhoam kept his thoughts to himself. He made a glance over to Barta who looked rather uncomfortable by it all. He wondered if she had something a bit more to hide than she would let on...

He leaned closer to Barta and prodded her shoulder, "They weren't looking too hard were they? Pretty thankful for that, hm?" The look she shut him was enough to confirm his thoughts. He thought it was weird, a girl like her, well spoken and traveling on these roads alone. In fact a Princess that got tired of her escort sounded like a lot more plausible story than having her horse stolen and remaining unharmed.

Barta pushed away from the table quickly and rose to her feet, "I thank you both for the food and help. But I shall not be a burden any longer."

"Burden?" Urbosa repeated with surprise with a mouth full of food.

"Good day," She moved quickly to the exit as Rhoam tried to suppress a smile. She had been so smug trying to analyze his secret that she had left herself easy to read.

"What did you say to her?" Urbosa asked with a deep glare.

"Nothing at all really," Rhoam chuckled, "I promise I said nothing to offend."

"Sure... everything that comes out of your mouth can be seen as an offense..." She might have glared further at him if her food didn't beckon. She knew this would be the last full meal she had in awhile and she wasn't going to let Rhoam's stupidity ruin it.

Not long after they had finished their meal did people begin crawling towards the spirit temple. Rhoam rented a room for the two of them and went upstairs with a full bottle of liquor to watch from the third story. He leaned out to the terrace and watched as what appeared to be waves of people begin to crawl across the sand towards the temple, it was actually an astounding sight and the noise of thousands of people moving at once was something Rhoam would not forget. In the distance he could see the spirit temple, with a massive statue of the Sand Goddess in front of the shrine with eight other statues of the Eight Heroines guarding their Goddess.

"Well, Goddess..." Rhoam said uncorking the bottle of strong liquor, "This one is for you!"

He drank down the bottle faster than he should have and before long sleep began pulling at him...

Rhoam awoke from his sleep in the dead of the night with a hand lightly pressed against his face. He moved it off of him and glanced over to his side to see a passed out Urbosa next to him, he must have been too drunk to hear her come back from the crawl and her legs were still caked with sand – obviously too tired to clean before bed.

His head was pounding from the liquor and he had wished he filled up a pot of water before drinking. He rolled out of bed and threw on his shirt before beginning to make his way out of the room. The entire inn was silent, virtually everyone had participated in the crawl and all of them were now sleeping soundly. "Oh, goddesses, why did I drink so much?" He asked himself, the entire town was fed water through a great body of water and it wasn't hard to get some – only problem was that he needed to go outside and in this cold that was a painful experience. But he braved it, pot in hand as he dredged out, the sound of running water and the occasional howl from some nearby dog was the only noise Rhoam could hear.

After he took his first sip of water that silence was pierced by a soft humming sound. Even in Rhoam's drunk state he would admit it was a pleasant, albeit out of place sound, that the more he listened the more in sounded like a soft melody that gently moved through the town. His first thought was someone was playing an instrument at this time, but the streets were so empty he somewhat doubted that conclusion.

Perhaps a smarter person would have simply returned to their room at this time. But Rhoam was curious and the melody was so pleasant he didn't seem to think any sort of threat could have come from it. He followed the sound that grew lightly as he moved, the more he moved the louder it grew and soon he was moving much faster – the draw of the music seemly moving his entire body.

Rhoam was on the outskirts of the town, which was admittedly not far from the inn, and there was absolutely no one in sight. Except the music was still playing, louder now and clearly coming from the desert space that lied between the town and the spirit temple.

"W-What...?" Rhoam asked himself, taking a step forward. Something changed, it was like liquid rolling off the surface, the very fabric of this world seemed to be literally peeled away in front of him. A gold light shined through, briefly blinding his sight as a woman stepped through the tear. Woman was what she appeared to be, but nothing like Rhoam had ever seen before – tall, perhaps seven and a half feet tall, with golden skin that seemed to glisten with light, red eyes and light red hair that fluttered beautifully around her naked body.

He felt like he knew her from somewhere but he could not place where, "Who are you?" She did not respond, instead she simply outstretched her long arm, offering Rhoam to take it. What was he supposed to do? He was so enthralled by it all he took the hand and in a moment a blinding light covered him.

 _You are the one_ a voice spoke to him as the light overtook him, _The father of power. Great darkness walks this world now. Burden of truth falls to you. The old lands in danger._ The voice was like violent whispers bombarding him, he wanted it to all end and felt like his mind was going to explode. He could barely make out the words being spoken to him now and he shouted to make it all stop.

And it did. The voices stopped. The light stopped and soon he was consumed by the surrounding darkness. When he began to regain consciousness it felt like he was being pulled out of a dream, he awakened to a warm, safe glow...

"Ugh," Rhoam moaned aloud, "Urbosa?" He asked, glancing about the surrounding area... to realize that he was not in his room. He was laying in a body of water, actually laying ON a body of water that surrounded a statue of the Sand Goddess and as soon as he realized this fact he fell through the surface into the cold water. It wasn't deep and he quickly found his feet, his breath quickened into a panic as he looked around his surroundings. There was no roof overhead but there were walls, he appeared to be in some sort of garden.

He moved out of the water and fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath and calm himself. Had everything that happened before been real? How did he end up here? And what exactly did he drink the night before?

Rhoam stood to his feet, his legs felt weak and he had difficulty focusing his vision. Thankfully he noticed doorways out of this garden and he began to stumble towards it, briefly falling to the ground before pulling himself back up. "Come on now, strength!" He told himself as he forced himself forward.

Yet before he could reach the door someone stepped out into the garden. It was a woman dressed in a heavy cloak with markings of the Sand Goddess itched in fine gold silk across it, she looked to be deep in thought when she suddenly stopped and stared wide eyed at Rhoam.

"Oh, no, don't-" Rhoam urged but it was too late – the woman screamed.

"Guards!" She shrieked, stumbling back before bolting out from where she came. Rhoam didn't wait, he turned and ran the opposite direction, spotting another door on the far side. But his feet betrayed him, no strength left to run he fell again just as bulky Gerudo men came rushing into the garden.

"Grab the thief!" One roared as they neared him.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Rhoam dug his hands into the ground and threw the dirt into the face of the closest guard before valiantly throwing himself into the other. He barely budged the guard, who grabbed him by the hair and pulled him away from smacking him so hard across the face that he tumbled back onto the ground. He tried to pull himself up but the sudden force of the guards leg slamming into the back of his head and onto the ground welcomed a quick darkness. The last thing he remembered was that golden woman from before staring at him from across the garden and smiling widely.

* * *

 **The Mouse**

The Curiosity Shop sparked little curiosity for Mouse, who had made it her life's goal to stay as far away from the building as possible despite knowing little more than whispers about what went on in the place. It was, as one rightly put it, a place of dark curiosities and she wanted no part in what went on within its halls. The building looked like anything in west district – old, years of neglect and leveling of the foundation made it misshaped and in dire need of renovation. A sign hung from the door reading the name of the shop in case anyone was actually interested in entering this dreary old establishment.

"This is it..." Mouse gulped, "You sure you want to go in there?"

"Yes." His voice, unlike Mouse's, was calm.

"Aren't you like, a little nervous? Like I heard some dark things about that shop. Bad things happen to people in there."

He looked at her with his cool eyes, "I bring bad things, child."

Rangers were weird people, Mouse was convinced they were half demons now the way Rusl acted. Normal things didn't bother him, he KILLED a man and wasn't at all bothered by it. Mouse still couldn't get the look on the dead man's face out of her head and she wasn't even the person who killed him.

Rusl pulled his hood over his head and walked up to the building, twisting the handle and opening the door to the shop before entering. Mouse knew she should have left right there, but the curiosity to see what he was going to do in there was too much. She followed the Ranger into the shop where she was told never to go.

The inside of the shop was musky, with great heaping piles of trinkets stashed around the room with seemly little care. The room was lit by the windows facing the door way and a few candles that flicked as the wind from outside rushed in, which was great because the smell was so intense inside that it made the garbage and waste ridden streets of the west district seem pleasant. There was an immense amount of dust on everything, on the trinkets and in the air, and it was clear that the outside of the Curiosity Shop was as well taken care of as the inside of it.

The Ranger had barely stepped a couple of feet in when Mouse followed behind him, "I thought you would have been running down the street by now."

"Yeah, well, I did too..." The hair on her arm was standing up and she felt the urge to run, yet an even greater urge to stay and figure out what this place really was. It was a dark place, but why? She trusted that the Ranger would distract anything bad long enough for her to get away if things got dangerous.

"Hey!" Shouted a voice from across the room, Mouse had to focus her eyes to see a thin, crooked old man standing behind the counter and eying her with malice in his eyes. "No streets rat in this shop. Stay outside!"

"This is no orphan, she's with me and she won't touch anything." The Ranger said, grabbing her firmly by the arm before looking down at her, "Right?"

She'd play the part of loyal daughter for now, "No, I will be good, promise!" The very words soured in her mouth. Good? She'd steal the candy from a baby if given the opportunity.

"Very well then..." the old man grumbled to himself before receding back to his chair that creaked louder than his bones. Mouse could see now the old man was very unusual looking, he was bald with a long nose and faded blue tattoos that stretched from his left jawline up towards a pure white eye (fake or blind, Mouse couldn't tell), the good eye watched her closely and she didn't much like the gaze. She turned towards looking at the items that seemed to all have a thick layer of dust on it.

The Ranger was looking through them too, which she found weird. "I'm looking for something..." He finally spoke, catching the man's attention.

"We have many things here. Anything in particular?" The Ranger traced his hand softly over a table with a great deal of old looking amulets. "Those amulets make great gifts for the Festival of Time."

"You have a lot of people who buy amulets for the festival?" Rusl asked.

"Not many. Especially not people like yourself."

"How do you mean?"

"Outsiders. Non-Terminian." That made the Ranger chuckle before he picked up a single red amulet from the table and walked over to the counter, placing it down.

"In this environment it is especially important to cloak oneself." Rusl was confusing Mouse, but his words and actions seemed to surprise the old man.

"Especially these days." He took the amulets and lightly pressed down on a small button that made the book case to the side budge open. "Be quick now."

"Thank you," Rusl said, "Come on now." Motioning for Mouse to follow him through the dark passageway.

"There is darkness before the light, brother." The old man said as they stepped into the passage way. Mouse was getting freaked out now, was Rusl really working with them? She didn't understand what was going on.

"How did you-"

"Silence..." He quickly cut her off as they walked along the passage, he was waiting until they were out of earshot, "The amulet, it was the only thing not covered in dust. It's been picked up and placed there frequently. I took a chance."

She wasn't sure how he noticed that but it impressed her well enough, no doubt one of the many powers he had as a Ranger.

The tunnel seemed to weave them into another nearby house, and when the light finally came at the end of the tunnel they stepped into a great store room of sorts – the house seemed to have been hallowed out to allow for more stacking of crates with a great symbol of a moon placed on each crate. Rusl walked up to the crate and placed his hand upon the symbol, tracing over it before turning away entirely.

"What is this place?" Mouse asked, stunned. It was hard to see with the few windows the building had not being large enough to illuminate the area. Most of the crates were left open and empty, but there was such a strong odor flowing around the store room that Mouse had to plug her nose to keep herself from gagging."Oh what is that smell?"

"Waste, rot..." Rusl answered as he walked through a row of crates, his hand not leaving the hilt of his short sword that hung from his side. On the other side of the room there was an office that overlooked the storage area, it was empty, but a burning candle told them that there were people around. She didn't have to be told to be quiet.

Rusl walked through into the office and began to go through the parchments on the desk. The office was very refined looking and no doubt the nicest part of this terrible place, with a separate wall separating the two areas and several sweet burning candles to defuse the smell that filled the storage space. "What's it say?" Mouse asked, glancing over the papers Rusl was going through (not that she understood what was being written).

"It's a ledger." She wasn't entirely sure what that was, "Do you know what 'Ikana Assembly' is?"

"Hmm..." Mouse hummed in thought, "They make things there, I knew some people who worked there. Rough place."

"They're making sales to them along with many other places here.. privates residences, businesses. They're making a lot." Rusl stuffed the ledger into his pack before going through other pieces of parchment, "They're bringing in products from all over Hyrule too. Mostly from Wood Fall."

"What do you think they're selling?" Mouse looked back towards the storage area where there was one storage box that had a small hole on its side, not large enough for anything to get out but certainly large enough for a person Mouse's size to reach through. She moved away from Rusl and towards the storage container, where the darkness inside kept her from seeing anything and a pungent smell made her want to gag, but Mouse's curiosity pushed her forward to see what exactly they were selling that was making them so much.

She looked through, unable to make anything out in the dark at first... until something pressed its face against the hole, a wide blank eye staring back through at her. Mouse immediately fell back, her heart pounding in fright.

"Let us out!" A chorus of voices begged, the face looking out of the storage box belonged to a Deku Scrub. Its face looked ravaged with several bloody scars tracing along its wood like skin told her the horrors it must have endured.

"Oh gods!" Mouse cried, covering her mouth to keep any more noise from coming but the chorus of voices from the box was louder than she was. Rusl had already moved to her side now, "R-Rusl, they have Deku in there. Oh gods this is horrible."

"They're slave trading..." Rusl muttered to himself as footsteps from beyond the boxes started to approach. "Mouse, you see that window up there? Climb the boxes and get out. I can't protect you from what's coming."

"W-What about you?"

"Just go, they probably have Kafei here. I have to find him." Before Mouse could protest, Rusl grabbed her by the back of her shirt, picked her up and hoisted her onto the first box. "Go."

Mouse wasn't a hero, and if the Ranger said things were about to get scary than she wasn't going to wait and see. She began climbing the next set of boxes to the window just as a set of men rounded the corner

"What is going on-" A flash of steel silenced the speaking man, Rusl had drawn his blade and gutted the first man so quickly. The blood and entrails spilling to the ground was the last thing Mouse saw before she continued her climb, the roars of the men fighting below and those in the crates began growing louder and louder. She got up to the window and opened it, looking back down at where Rusl was.

"We've been compromised!" One man shouted as he ran from Rusl, blood dripping from the limb the Ranger had cleaved off. He ran, stumbled upon himself before he reached one of the cages. "Get away from me!"

He reached to unlock the cage, pulling open the door to reveal a fairly sized (stood at the height of a large dog, but much wider), lizard-like creature that at first moved away from the light. Mouse wasn't sure what it was, but it was big and it crawled out of the open cage a moment later, licking its lips as it cocked its head side to side, looking at the Ranger with a blank stare. It had a number of deep scars in its scales and looked very worn out, not too much of a threat...

Then it spat oil that caught flame, spraying across the ground and towards Rusl who dodged out of the way. The fire was spreading quickly now onto the storage cases, those in it were struggling to break free and things weren't looking good at all.

Mouse wasn't brave enough to go down there and fight with him... but she could do something perhaps. She quickly moved over to one of the empty storage boxes that had been shook from the fighting below, placed both feet firmly upon it and pushed. Had it not been already tilted to fall it likely wouldn't have, but with little effort the box tipped right down and fell hard upon the lizard creature below. It roared as the box crashed onto it and for a brief moment Mouse felt pretty proud of herself. The creature wasn't dead but the screeching sound it was making was enough to know she had hurt the thing very badly.

"Alright, we're even now!" Mouse shouted below, her conscious clear. She turned to slip out the window.

"Just go!" Rusl shouted back as he moved to the first storage container, thrusting his sword into the side of it and prying it open to allow the Deku inhabitants a chance to flee. The creature had freed itself from the wooden pile it was briefly buried under and very angry now. Mouse wasn't going to stay to watch any of it.

"Good luck, Ranger!" She truly meant that, he was rough with her but he had kept her safe – which was more than what most adults would do. Mouse slipped out of the window, climbed carefully down and onto the streets below where she immediately took off into a dash. Behind her the fire was taking to the rest of the building, and when fires started in the west district they would burn horribly – the building so old and close together, who knows how many buildings would be consumed before anyone could put a stop to it.

Mouse ran for awhile until the crowded streets welcomed her a place to slip into, where her thoughts began to trail back to the earlier events. She had seen some nasty things before, but what was going on in there disgusted her. She hoped most of them escaped before the fire got too bad, she hoped the Ranger escaped... but maybe with some burns of course, he still had to pay for roughing her up earlier after all.

Loud whistling cleared the streets as the city guard rushed towards where the smoke was pluming up into the air, worried people all over were fretting about how serious the blaze was. Mouse just continued on her way, knowing that the Bombers still had a plan to do tonight and she needed some rest and food before doing so.

She seized upon the chaos and nabbed a loaf of bread from a vendor before retreating over to her hiding spot in the rafters of one of the local temples – one of those honoring the Hylian Goddess, Hylia and the Three Golden Goddesses that supposedly created the land.

Below, the priest spoke about the fire to those who had gathered for evening prayers, "Tomorrow is a great festival, but after events like these it is essential we do all for those who have been affected. There aren't many here that have much to give, I know, but anything you can do for those in need would be great."

"How many have died?" One person asked as Mouse chewed through the bread above.

"I do not know. We should remain vigilant as we may have to evacuate."

She felt bad, she wasn't old enough the last time a blaze like this occurred but she had heard it killed HUNDREDS of people. Most of the west district had been evacuated and left to burn during the cold winter she had heard. She hoped things wouldn't be as bad this time...

As the people below began to sing hymns, Mouse began to doze off. The music was comforting and soft and it quickly pulled her into a dreamless sleep that she needed to digest her big lunch. When she awoke, the temple was empty.

"Ohhh, I hope I didn't sleep too long!" She said as she slid back down and out of the temple. The sun was still out, which was fantastic but it was setting. A dark haze in the sky from the smoke said the flames had not been put out, but it was in the opposite direction of where she needed to be so she assumed the plan was still on. She hurried along the streets to where the Bombers would be preparing the ambush for later.

Bombers were good at blending in, but she could easily spot her fellow thieves amongst the crowd. She even spotted Rat sitting against the building with that same dull face from before. She doubted he would believe the day she has had.

"You still being grouchy?" She asked as she approached him, sitting down by her friend. He didn't much respond, just gave a weak glance over at her. "Ugh, okay whatever don't talk."

"They're moving up the plan..." Rat instead said, "That blaze has got the Gorons spooked, they aren't waiting as long as they normally do to move the product. They're moving earlier so we moving earlier... shouldn't have to worry about guards though, they're all busy with the fires."

"Yeah... any idea how bad it's getting?"

"Heard they're containing it at the river." That was a relief, that means it wasn't spreading too far. "If it was spreading much further they probably would have canceled the shipment all together. But we got people watching them and they appear to be on the move still."

They fell to silence, Mouse was racking her head trying to think of a way to break it. Should she tell him about the Ranger? Or maybe the factory? No that would probably worry him more.

"I'm sorry about this morning, Rat." Mouse instead decided to say, "It's not that I don't care, you know? I just don't think sometimes is all."

"...It's fine." Rat responded which gave her some relief, "Let's get through this and get out of this district, just in case things get bad, okay?"

"Oh yeah, sounds good to me." Taking that as a sign they were on good terms she seized him by the had and ruffled his hair, "We're gonna be fine my friend! Just you see!"

Night had descended upon Clock Town, Mouse and Rat had moved up to the building tops to watch the streets below. As they waited they watched the flames in the far distance, it was almost pretty when you didn't think of the disaster it was causing. She actually found herself worrying about the Ranger and she wondered if he had found Anju's man before the flames got too bad.

"Where do you think it started?" Rat asked and if he had seen her face it would have been one of extreme guilt.

"Oh, uh, I don't know... maybe close to that curiosity shop." Mouse tried to hide the guilt in her voice, thankfully the sharp whistling of other Bombers caught her ear. It was the signal that the convoy the nearing the location now and it was time to get into position.

"Alright, stick to the plan," Rat whispered as the crawled down to a lower building and laid down low to watch as the convoy would come in. Thankfully for Mouse, Rat had explained the plan very clearly – a caravan of three different wagons would ride in. They were guarded by a Goron escort who would take them through the city and to the armory which was their final destination. The Bombers whistled twice which meant there were two Gorons, which did complicated things a bit.

The Bombers had paid to have the main street blocked which would divert the caravan through one of the smaller streets, once they were in target range they would overwhelm the drivers and ride off before anyone could react. Confrontation with the Goron were to be avoided at all costs.

"Here we go..." Mouse whispered to herself as the caravan moved slowly into their view. The Goron were mighty creatures, huge bulky brown and stood around seven to eight feet taller, wide bodies and a tough rock shell on their backs that made the only way to effectively attack one to go head on, which considering their sheer strength it was never a good idea.

About halfway down the street they halted the wagon having seen the blocked road up ahead, the people started arguing amongst themselves, clearly on edge having been redirected several times only to end up here. "This doesn't feel right!" One of the drivers shouted down as the horses became skittish from the arguing.

"This city is on fire and we're here stuck in the streets, gods, can you get the streets open?" The Goron in the front simply nodded and started to move towards the blockade of wood and trash they had set up ahead. The Goron reached the blocked road, and reached to start to disassemble it when movement caught his eye. He stopped, watching closely before realizing that things were about to get very bad...

"It's a tra-" A flicker of flame reached down and touched the blockade, instantly bursting in flames from the oil they had soaked into it. Flames and Gorons were not new things, Gorons lived in climates like that, but they weren't immune to it. The flames burst and the oil splashed against the creature, covering him in the flames.

Mouse hadn't known about the oil and the screams from the Goron were frightening, and soon the quiet streets were engulfed in terror as they tried to react to the sudden flames. The Bombers flowed out of the alleyway, the older and stronger members leading the charge with jagged blades and makeshifts weapons against the armed guards of the caravan.

"Come on Mouse, let's go!" Rat tapped Mouse on the shoulder as he jumped up from hiding. Mouse's legs shook from the violence and fear but she promised she would have Rat's back, so she pulled herself up and pressed forward.

Several men had leaped out of the back of the caravan with weapons in hand as the Bombers swarmed around them. The middle wagon was being cornered by a group of Bombers who had already pulled the driver from the seat and in a fit of chaos stabbed the man several times. "Come on, on the wagon!" Mouse yelled as she pulled herself up, Rat following closely behind. In the back of the wagon Mouse could see clearly what it was they were after; stacks and stacks of explosives lined the wagon. This type of fire power was intense and likely to be sold to other mining operations in the region... what did the Bombers want with this type of stuff?

She could see the Goron in the back moving up to the middle wagon with quick speed as he tried to fend off the Bombers from the caravan. "Let's move, let's move!" She shouted, hoping they would seize the front cart so they could get moving already.

Suddenly the wagon ahead took off as the horses and driver panicked, they made a hard left and the wagon tilted, detaching from the horses and falling right into the flames. A silence seemed to unfold around them as Mouse watched with wide eyes.

"Oh shit, get down!" Rat screamed as he grabbed Mouse and leaped off the wagon, the first wagon caught flame and very quickly exploded in a ball of flame. Mouse wasn't sure what was going on, but the loud noise had left her ears ringing. It was a moment later the noise from the flames and screams of the wounded became clear to her once more.

"Rat? Hey, Rat!" Mouse budged the older boy before slipping out from underneath him. The chaos in the streets was unreal, Bombers laid on the group, hit directly from the flames and peppered by the shrapnel that followed. This was certainly not going to plan.

Having glanced over the gore she turned back to Rat, and that, to her horror, was when she saw it – several splintered pieces of wood had lodged themselves into Rat's back.

Mouse's world fell silent, the screams and flames meant little to her, she stared widely at her friend as her entire body began to shake. "Rat!" She screamed, falling to her friend. "Oh gods no, don't you die from this!"

He moaned in deep agony, he was alive and breathing, but for how long?

Mouse seized Rat and began to pull him towards the wagon, she needed to take it and get him to safety as fast as she could. Already other Bombers had climbed upon the remaining carts.

"Hey, hey, help!" She screamed to the Bomber in the front who quickly made a glance down at her, "Help me, he's hurt!"

The Bomber pushed the horse forward instead, the cart blasting off as eager horses were ready to get out of the area. "HEY!" She screamed, stunned as the carts moved down the alleyway towards the opening they had left open. Her heart was pounding, unsure what to do.

"Trash!" A sudden voice roared, causing Mouse to turn quickly to see the second Goron was still very much active. He had just stumped on the head of the wounded Bomber, smashing the poor kid's skull with little effort, "I will kill you all!"

"No, no!" Mouse screamed internally as she darted to Rat, grabbing him she began to drag him away. The Goron grabbed another Bomber who was trying to flee and ended him as well, his eyes falling upon them as they moved away. "You have to get up Rat, you have to. I can't pull you like this. Don't make me leave you, don't you dare!"

She would! She would leave him in a heart beat, after all remember how he treated her today? She had to live. She didn't want to die...

The Goron neared them, "You killed my friends... my friends!" He raised his fist and Mouse knew she had no other choice. She let Rat go, seized her knife and moved as quickly as she could – towards the Goron. He brought his fist down towards her and she slid right out of the way, using her knife she put all her strength and stabbed his under body, cutting deep into the Goron then sliding the knife to the side so to bleed the Goron dry.

It was the first time she had ever done anything like this, sure she had fantasies but they were always more... heroic. This felt dirty and gross, the blood that splashed onto her was warm, sticky and smelled grotesque. And in her fantasy, which had been fueled by heroic stories told on the streets, they never screamed and cried – the Goron did, he fell to the side and hugged his wound, a wound he would no doubt succumb to.

Mouse's hands shook, she dropped her knife and turned back to her friend, seizing him once more before dragging him away from the mess once again. Not far from the mess she found a small wagon that was left empty, she pulled Rat onto it and started to push the small wagon down the street as she fled the area.

"Stay with me, Rat!" She yelled as she pushed him down the street towards the only place she knew.

How long it took Mouse could not say, but when she reached the Stock-Pot-Inn she banged hard on the door until it opened up to the chef who stared down at the two with wide eyes.

"Oh gods," he muttered under his breath, taking Rat into his arms, "Inside, quickly. What have you two done?!

Mouse didn't answer, she hardly said anything as he brought Rat over to the kitchen and she didn't say anything when Anju came down to see what was going on. What the two did was amazing though, they worked to remove the shrapnel from Rat and stop the bleeding the best they could. Mouse just stayed close to Rat, holding his hand which he gripped tightly.

"Don't die... please." Mouse whispered to her friend, her thoughts flashing back to the alleyway where she had stabbed the Goron. His screams were echoing in her head along side's Rats... she had killed, murdered that Goron. In place of the dying Goron she could see Rat in that same circumstance, dying alone like that...

Tears ran down her face but she made no noise. Death came in many ways, and at that moment she felt a little bit of her die right there... she only hoped Rat would not join her in anyway.


	5. Part One Chapter Four (Pt 1)

A little side note before you begin, I decided to break this chapter into two parts as it was getting very, very long. The next chapter will finish up Part One of the story.

Also, in this chapter I reveal the name of Hyrule's royal family, this isn't some exciting reveal but I wanted to address it because it took sometime before I came to decide what it would be. The obvious choice, and the most backed, is that their last name is also Hyrule - I did not like this, and so I decided to use another name in the story as the House's name which you will see further in this chapter. Anyway, without further distractions enjoy and thank you for your support.

* * *

 **The Dutiful**

When most people thought about the Termenia province of Hyrule they thought about Clock Town and its massive commerce center, but what was often forgotten was the sheer size of the region – it has several hundred hamlets, farms and many unsettled lands. It was gears for the Hyrulean machine and mainly populated by Humans with a mix of religions, including the old giant religion and Hylian one.

A large contingent of Hyrulean knights had been traversing the great lands, feasting with local lords and creating a very extravagant sight – and this wasn't even the contingent with the Heir of the empire. It was the contingent of mainly diplomats that were going down to represent the King of Hyrule in the Festival of Time that would be held across the giant-believing world.

Most of the history the Royal Family either tried to ignore the festival of time or, at brief points in their history, were hostile to it. But these days they saw their attendance as a means of firming their control of the human population and even tie the old religion to their own. There were those on both sides that would cry out about the Royal Family attendance, but most saw it as a means of gaining closer influence.

A great sea of land about fifty miles outside of Clock Town belonged Odolwa family, a very old Human family that had many notable legends tied to their name. Most recently, and perhaps most notably, Von Odolwa led a fantastic victory over the now conquered Deku Tribes many centuries ago. He had been gifted a great deal of land after his victory, and today his land had close to a dozen hamlets on it and long miles of farmland. The crown jewel of Odolwa's land was their fortress that sat upon a hill, with a large town surrounding it and two walls fortifying its position – it was a impressive sight and a testament to their knightly achievements. Their family crest, a banner of green with a shield and long sword fluttered over their keep with pride.

A young man sat upon his horse with about a dozen guards following his lead, while boredom ate at his every bone he never let it show through his proper stance and dutiful watch of the horizon. His brown hair fluttered a bit when the winds swept through the fields but the chill did not breach through his brown doublet and thick wool cape. He had been alerted that the Hyrulean contingent was close now and truthfully he was rather excited, at the helm of the contingent was an old friend of his - Nohansen Bosporamus of the Royal Family, child of Gustaf, the brother to the King and chief diplomat of the realm. The two of them were mentored together along side the now banished prince, Rhoam Bosphoramus and had grown to be as thick as brothers (it wasn't often a Human was taken under the wing of the Royal Family, it was a pride of the Odolwa family).

Just as he was about to question his scout's words the flutter of the Royal Family's banner made itself visible upon the horizon. The horses were lazily making their way down the hill now, which only brought a smile to his face.

He rode down to meet the Hylians, the leading Knights stopping the convoy as they approached. Before any of the knights could issue any orders Nohansen broke through the pack, he could barely be recognized as it had been a fair couple of years since they've seen each other – but the long blonde hair and purple doublet was unmistakeably a fashion of the royal family, and the smile Nohansen had brought back many memories.

"Always at your own pace I see, Nohansen," the words seemed to strike a nerve in the Prince who's face stirned.

"A Prince of Hyrule is on the pace of none, and is always to be identified by his title except by those of his family," the lecturing caught him off guard a bit, perhaps Nohansen had changed over the time they had been gone. Except the Prince's stern face broke and was replaced by a bright smile, "Except of course I consider you a brother, Fin Odolwa."

They clasped hands and embraced each other in a hug, any fear or worry of his changing was washed away quickly.

"I need to get off this horse, my ass is killing me!" The Prince cried in laughter as they turned to ride back towards the Odolwa's family home. They rode quickly until they reached the gates of the village that surrounded their home, as they marched into the streets they slowed their horse into a trot as soldiers cleared the path for the two of them. The village was sizeable and hugged tightly into the confines of the gate, it wasn't as large or lavish as Clock Town but was a modest area of tailors, blacksmiths and a few inns.

"Tell me of your travels, how was Eldin?" Fin asked the Prince who gave a sour look in response.

"Do you like rocks?"

"Not particularly."

"Then I don't believe you'd like Eldin. Sure, it has it's beautiful sights and many, many hot springs. But as soon as you move past the Human and Hylian settlements and into the mountains we were alone from any sort of civilization. Nothing but Gorons for so long, they are such boring creatures, and the only source of entertainment was watching them fight each other in their games." Nohansen explained in exasperation, "I went into it open minded, you know? I thought it might be fun to bed a Goron just once, but no, I took one look at their women and I wanted to throw up. As soon as we reached a Human settlement I bedded a farm girl, a farm girl! Fin, surely you may find me a woman of my class here?"

Nohansen made Rhoam look tame the way he acted, Rhoam always had the care to be careful whom he laid with – 'nothing is worse for a kingdom than renegade bastards' he would remark. Nohansen didn't seem to care for such logic, something he was sure his family would be very unhappy with if they found out about his actions.

"Better places in Clock Town," Fin explained, "Nothing high class, just enough to please the traveling peasants." None of the Odolwa's would frequent such establishments, they were the protectorates of this village and reflected a higher moral standard – at least that's what his father had said to him. Besides, Fin was already married and in their religion that bond was internal.

"Well isn't that disappointing, come with me to Clock Town and we'll have our fun. Skip out on that ridiculous ceremony too."

"I apologize but the Odolwa family will not be attending Clock Town's festival," the words brought disappointment to Nohansen who wasn't entirely aware of who was attending.

"Why not?"

"We have a ceremony of our own," Fin replied, "There will be plenty of people to talk to though don't worry."

Nohansen made something of a snorting sound, "Oh sure, plenty of Humans there. Do you know how many families claim to be the blood of the old kings? There will be nothing but sneers behind my back from the pretenders."

"The Ikanas and Tufts hold pride in their relation to the kings of old." Fin was actually somewhat happy he wasn't attending the festival, there were many old families there that pledged loyalty to the Hyrulean Royal Family in name only, bitter over a wars that occurred ages ago. Because Fin was raised with the Princes he was often remarked to be the 'Royal's pet' by those families, "There are Hylian families that will attend as well and most will be very warm to you. My lady's grandparents will be there, House Romani as well as her sister-house Cremia."

"Your wife's family breeds strong horses. Don't much stand up to the speed of Lon-Lon's though."

"Romani breeds war horses and are not for show like Lon-Lon's." The two family were the largest breeders of horses in the lands, her sister-house Cremia was far less prestigious and made their money mostly off moo-moo milk. "It is a fact my wife will vigorously argue you over with."

As they approached the gates into the estate there was a sudden and immediate difference – the estate had a grand entrance of stone and wide ranges of well kept gardens at the entrance – that despite the fall breeze – still had lovely flowers. The entire family was out to meet them, the head of the family was Fin's grandfather who sat in a chair (he could barely walk much less stand on his own) along with his father who stood tall with a great, well kept beard and fine clothing. Fin had many siblings but all married off now, so the only one present was his younger brother who was a knight for the house. The women of his family were present as well, his mother by his father's side and his own wife, the tall red haired woman with a thick blue fall dress on that did little to hide the baby bump.

"I see you've been rather busy," Nohansen remarked to Fin quietly before dismounting from his horse. His grandfather rose to meet him but was quickly assured down by Nohansen, "No my lord I insist you sit, your gracious invitation into your house is enough of a welcome."

"An Odolwa always stands." Fin's grandfather remarked as he pushed himself up, his legs wobbling a bit before he found his footing, bowing his head in respect to the Prince before finding his chair once again.

"Of course, of course," Nohansen moved on to shake the hands of each person there, greeting them as he went. When he arrived at Fin's wife he welcomed her with a hug, "Lady Odolwa, your husband has written that he married the goddess herself, and now I see he was incorrect. Your beauty far exceeds that of my cousin's!"

"You're too kind, my Prince." She replied, perhaps a little thrown off guard by his familiarity. She had known Fin grown with Nohansen and Rhoam but she obviously didn't understand how close the three had gotten.

Nohansen was welcomed in a feast that sat many from Odolwa's lands, including the mayors of the largest villages and hamlets that dotted its countryside. The feast was massive, the main meal meat pies and greens while the wine flowed endlessly. As Nohansen danced with one of the mayor's daughters, Fin's wife leaned in and whispered.

"Did you dance with every young lady when it was just the three of you?" The three had gone many places, after all Rhoam was the heir to the realm so when he toured the countryside Fin and Nohansen had been blessed to accompany him. There were many great memories and adventures they undertook when he was younger, some best not said.

"I was the Human with the Hylians, I always had to act my best or face the wrath of my critics." He assured her, which she merely replied with a long 'uh-huh'.

As the feast whined down Fin sat alone with Nohansen by the hearth in their great hall. They had both drank many cups of wine and Fin was beginning to feel the grogginess in his head. Fin leaned against the leather back of his chair and let the warmth of the fire draw his eyes down.

"You passing out on me, Odolwa?" Nohansen asked, prodding his shoulder. "We used to drink far more you know."

"That was awhile ago..." Fin responded, "A decade ago you know."

"Yes, yes... how I miss those days..." Nohansen stared long and hard into the fire, but Fin could see his gaze was falling to the past. "Do you remember when we were in the Great Bay?"

How could he not? The Great Bay had beautiful beaches and exotic food, while trade with the islands and the old kingdoms across the sea brought wondrous sights and smells that were lacking in the heart of Termenia. Not even the ports in the southern portion of the province brought in as much exotic things as they did in the Great Bay.

"It was beautiful," Fin recalled, "We left our royal contingent and spent days out in the beaches together with that Zora Prince and Princess."

"And then we came across those smugglers, they wanted to kidnap us and sell us no doubt..."

"You and Rhoam acted swiftly there."

"We ALL did..." Fin remembered those days with pride, it was worse all the punishment they received when they were found. The Zora had mobilized so much of their forces to search for them that they were half worried there would be a diplomatic row between the two Royal Families. The Zora Princess was infatuated with Rhoam and part of Fin thought he shared those feelings.

Nohansen never gazed away from the fire, but his voice grew with angst as he continued, "You know what the problem is though? Tomorrow I will sit upon that clock tower and celebrate a festival and the next month another Prince will be there. One younger and more foolish than any of us. The Heir to our great home land – a child."

Fin held his tongue, Nohansen was damn near speaking words of treason and he did not want to involve himself in the quarrels of the Royal Family.

"Your father is teaching him, he will learn to be a good King."

"Perhaps a good king... but not a great King." He seethed, "We all knew the truth, so don't you hold your tongue now Fin. Rhoam was great, just and charismatic. Pushed aside for his sister and that fake hero."

Fin felt distraught over this, he fully believed that Rhoam would have made a great King had the throne rightly passed to him and he held his reservations over the Chosen Hero like many did. After all it had been many generations since they last had a Chosen, and they found it in a Daku? It seemed rather convenient and the circumstances were unusual at best. When Fin entered into the barbaric war five years ago, the Chosen was killed in battle and everyone spoke about how awe inspiring he was – truly mystical in the way he fought - but he wasn't sure so he dared not distinguish truth from fantasy. But conspiracies such as these were best left unspoken.

"The realm would have been in good hands, I have no doubt." Fin merely said as diplomatically as possible.

"Yes, yes," he turned towards him now, raising his drink high into the air, "So let's have a toast to our one and great Prince. Where ever he is now, let fortunes smile upon him. To the RIGHTFUL King of Hyrule."

Fin bit his lip, telling himself that this was not the right thing to do. But perhaps the wine was getting to him and he felt nostalgic over the childhood they all shared together, he held his glass up to meet the Prince's.

"To the rightful King."

* * *

 **The Banished**

Rhoam was stirred back to consciousness as the heat of the sun bore down on him, his entire skin burned from too much exposure and the sticky painful feeling across his shoulder told him he had been cut deeply. He reached to wipe his forehead of sweat but found his hands chained tightly to a post, then nonsensical screaming soon stirred him further awake on the uncomfortable heat and surroundings told him he wasn't in a safe place at all. He opened his eyes to the blinding force of the sun bearing down on him, making it rather difficult to assess what type of situation he found himself in.

"Hey!" He croaked out over the shouts of a crowd, his throat was dry and he could barely speak. His vision began to focus again, his sight falling upon countless people who had gathered around him and two other individuals. The two other individuals, like him, had been stripped down to just their under garments and were being lashed by guards. A woman with a snake wrapped around her arm was shouting to the crowd, quoting some scripture of the Sand Goddess that Rhoam did not know.

"For the crimes of theft, the Sand Goddess has sentenced this soul to twenty lashes!" She shouted as the lashing continued. What was he being accused of? He hoped it wasn't theft because that looked nasty.

By the time they had finished with the man his back was a bloody mess, they unlatched the poor soul and he crawled back into the crowd that spat and shouted at him. They moved next to Rhoam, the woman with the snake gave him such a deep spiteful look that distinctly reminded him of the look his parents would give him.

"This one," She snarled in a very theatrical way, "Was found in the sacred gardens, running about like a lunatic. Attempting to defile a Sand Priestess."

Well he would have to say that none of that happened, yes he woke up in the gardens but did he really try to defile a Sand Priestess? Honestly they were trumping up charges at this point.

"I did no such-" He tried to defend himself but the woman turned on him and slapped him hard across the fact.

"Silence, barbarian!" She shouted. Well if some lashes were his punishment then that would hardly be the worse fate in the world. "For such grievous actions against us on such a holy day there is little we can do, other than sentence him to death!"

Death? Did she just say death? This was outrageous, he struggled as two large men seized him and held his head still, exposing his neck towards the crowd. The woman drew out a long knife from her pouch, showing it high for the people to see.

"You want me?" Rhoam hissed, his heart pounding as she neared him with the knife, "You have no idea who you're dealing with! Take me and feel the wrath of heavens!" He had the blood of the Hero and the Goddess flowing through him, he had faced countless enemies and cut them down, if this woman wanted to kill him for an affront to a fake goddess then let it happen. He didn't want to die afraid, he wanted to die striking fear in his enemies.

He felt the cold steel press against his throat and he knew this was it, he found himself looking through the crowd in an attempt to see Urbosa, maybe catching one more sight of his partner before this woman cut his throat open. He couldn't find her amongst the crowd and his heart pained at the thought that he would not see her before he left this world. It was always a risk, he knew, being in this society that eventually things would push back against him... he just didn't think it would be now and under circumstances that he didn't entirely understand. He closed his eyes and wished for the death to be swift, even though he knew that death she was about to deal would be agonizing.

As the cold steel pressed against his throat the ground began to awake around them, he wasn't sure what was going on at first but the ground shook so violently that the sudden cracking sound as houses within the city shook violently. None of the houses appeared to collapse but the damage being done was irreversible. The woman with the snake fell back and the men let Rhoam go as the crowd screamed in fear, there were being praying aloud to the Goddess to stop her rampage, as only a moment later the shaking had stopped and things began to return to normal.

"What was that?!" He heard the people question what had just happened as they pulled themselves up from the ground.

"H-He summoned the wrath of the Goddess!" Another shouted, the woman he was about to execute looked offended by such commit.

"Blasphemy!" She shouted, "No _voe_ can command the Goddess." There were many other priestesses in the crowd and around that looked confident at the woman's words, yet others found the occurrence of the two events to be too much of a coincidence.

Rhoam wasn't sure what just happened, the rational part of him would say that was merely a coincidence but after everything that had happened he wasn't entirely sure about that anymore. Either way his blood was pumping from it all and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Stop laughing!" This only angered the woman, "Stop!" She picked the knife back up, moving quickly towards Rhoam, "The sentence still stands! I speak for the Goddess, I do!"

"Then slit my throat and see if you truly know the words of your Goddess," Rhoam threatened with more than a little confidence. A silence hung over the crowd as everyone watched to see what the priestess would do. He could see the doubt deep in her eyes as she wondered if it was the right thing to do, no doubt wondering what would happen to her soul if she ignored a potential sign from her Goddess.

"Halt!" A voice shouted from the crowd. The crowd was – rather violently – pushed aside by large Gerudo men dressed in black leather armor and holding tall spears, they moved in a diamond formation, with the outer guard being of the men while an inner unit of women warriors with golden armor that signified their higher rank. A group of barely dressed slaves shouldered a litter made of light wood and adorned in gold silk, inside the litter a young woman with vibrant red hair and bright green eyes sat, she had on several golden rings that tied around her arm and neck while a golden tiara with red rubies adorned her head. There was such an extravagant show of wealth, the silk the woman sat upon was probably worth more than any of these people would ever have. Rhoam barely recognized her but no doubt it was Barta, the girl they had helped before on the road, the apparent runaway princess.

The slaves bent to their knees, allowing Barta to step out of the litter. She stepped forward, dusting her fine silk clothing off before directing the crowd, "I had heard that the Priestess intended to punish wrong doers in the town square... I had not known it would illicit such a great response from the Goddess herself."

Many people in the crowd had dropped to their knees and bowed their heads towards her, others who weren't sure who she was joined them as to make sure not to offend whatever powerful person she was.

"Yet..." She looked the Priestess square in the eye, "You still intend to carry out the sentence?"

The Priestess was unhappy, the woman with fiery passion for her Goddess (and the influence it gave her) did not like someone else telling her what to do. "Who are you!? How dare you step up and question the will of the Goddess?!"

A large woman stood in front of Barta and furiously slammed her spear against the floor before declaring "This is Princess Makeela Riju, her Grand-Mother is the Queen of the great country of Kara, Chieftess of the Great Horde-Vah Naboris and ancestor of the hero Lady Urbosa and last King of the Gerudo, Ganondorf of House Dragmire."

The Princess had apparently lied about her name unsurprisingly, Rhoam had suspected she was more than she said she was, perhaps a Princess of some small Gerudo state in this vast land, but even he knew of the country of Kara. It wasn't as rich as some of the Gerudo merchant cities that hugged the coast and had been on the decline of influence for many centuries now - plagued by civil unrest and pestering by its neighbors - but still the country was well known to Hyrule's Royal Family. It was their dynasty that had attempted to invade the Hyrulean Empire long ago.

The Priestess was less impressed, or at least did a good job hiding her intimidation perhaps, "It doesn't matter how many titles you have. You don't have power here and you wouldn't dare defy the Goddess."

"I know this." Makeela responded without any fear of the Priestess potential ramifications, "We are all equals here after all. However, I just wished to point out the dangers of killing this one after such a sign. Why tempt the Goddess's anger? It would be far more effective if you left his fate up to the Goddess herself. Let him face Molduga."

There were gasps among the crowd, but Rhoam was very unsure what was going on. Molduga? Some warrior? Either way he liked the sound of it, he would kill any warrior in front of him easy. Looks like Makeela bought him a way out.

The priestess seemed to like this idea, as it didn't take away her authority but it seemed to shift the blame away from her if in fact the Goddess wanted him to live. And in her own thoughts, there was no way Rhoam would survive Molduga so it was a good thing either way for her.

"...We shall know the Goddess's will when he faces Molduga. Get the prisoner up and moving, he shall face the great Molduga!" The crowd seemed excited by this, for a roar of blood lust erupted from them. Gerudo loved their blood sports.

He was unlatched from the guards and moved through the crowd that parted quickly, seemly afraid to be anywhere near someone who may be protected by the Sand Goddess. It was as he was being dragged through the crowd that he noticed a familiar face standing not to far from where Makeela was - his friend and partner Urbosa who watched him with dread across her face.

"Urbosa!" Rhoam shouted before being silenced by the guards. He was dragged through the city until he reached a wagon that started to take him towards the edge of the town, there was a large crowd following close behind their wagon as the people wanted to watch the impending fight.

"...Water?" Rhoam asked with a glance towards his guards. "Oi, I want water."

"I'll give you steel." The guard threatened and Rhoam knew that he should not try his luck. His throat was desperately dry and his body ached, he would have to conserve all his energy for this fight. Rhoam glanced out of the wagon to see a massive Colosseum in the distance that looked older than any of the temples he had seen.

"Welcome to Arbiter's Ground." One of the guard said with a toothless grin.

The Colosseum was amazing, perhaps many centuries old and huge, could seat thousands of spectators . He was taken into the lower ends, where the cool inner quarters were a welcome escape to the heat that blistered outside. He was chained inside while priestess came and started to scrub him clean with uncomfortable bristled sponges, he was even fed and given water which struck him as being very off.

"You must be cleaned for your end." The priestess merely said.

"This is not my end." Rhoam replied, ready for whatever beast of a man they would throw at him.

After they finished cleaning him he was brought forward into the center of the Colosseum – it was huge, the grounds had many pillars protruding out of them but the general area was covered in sand. It didn't look like this place was well maintained, as the east portion of the Colosseum had collapsed in on itself and led a clear exit out towards the dessert.

Rhoam had been offered a bow and arrow along with a blade, which he welcomed gladly. He figured he would lodge an arrow straight into the head of his opponent and call it day.

"Bring Molduga out!" One of the priestess roared from the spectators, he looked across to see many people flooding into the arena but from the distance he couldn't recognize any of them.

"Alright, let's do this!" Rhoam roared, pounding his chest as massive drums from the seating area played, the chants from the crowd lending to the noise. So where was this Molduga? Rhoam eyed the entrances into the arena carefully but didn't see anyone coming out to meet him. What was going on?

He didn't notice it at first, the gradual rhythmic sound that seemed to shake the arena just a little. Rhoam thought it was the drums at first, but as it grew he knew that it was something else... something big that was coming from the east.

He narrowed his eyes towards the area, seeing what appeared to be a wave of sand moving closer from the direction... and it then occurred to him that it wasn't a failure of infrastructure but an entrance. Whatever it was that was approaching the area was moving quickly and Rhoam knew he needed to get off the ground, he threw himself upon one of the shorter pillars and climbed to the top, notching his bow as the wave of the sand drew closer until something burst out of the sand like a fish out of water.

Molduga was immense, longer than any of the pillars on the ground and wide, with a giant fin on its back and scales that pushed outward like blades. It had eyes on the front of its head and its mouth opened like a crocodile with a vast set of teeth and long tongue as well. It burst into the area which moved the earth with such power that the pillar Rhoam was standing on was up heaved from the ground, Rhoam leaped off of it and rolled onto the sand as Molduga dived back into the ground.

"Molduga! Molduga!" The crowd chanted, a euphoric feeling mixed with fear of what was before them was clear in the crowd as they urged the creature to eat the man. It was only fear for Rhoam as he cursed Makeela for suggesting this awful idea, perhaps she wanted him to die for finding out what she was back at the inn.

Putting aside any of those thoughts he wasn't sure how he could fight such a thing, but his instincts told him he had to move to high ground. As the sand rippled behind him he knew the creature was approaching, and it leaped once again out of the ground and high into the air to the cheers of the ground, flying over him before going back into the ground. It was playing with him, perhaps it even liked the cheers of the crowd, which would imply its intelligence was higher than some dull beast.

Rhoam could easily track as it moved through the ground as the waves of up heaved sand gave it away. As it sped through with remarkable speed Rhoam couldn't figure out how to get a strike on it, then as he was giving up hope it stopped and briefly popped its head up from the ground, seemly unable to locate where Rhoam was. It was clear the creature could not see him when in the ground so it must have relied on his movement to track him down and it must have lost Rhoam in the noise of the crowd.

He notched an arrow and hoped his aim was still good as he centered the arrow onto one of its eyes and released it. The arrow spun through the air and he knew he would have made his mentors back at Hyrule proud with the shot, except the arrow was a bit too high and bounced harmlessly off the tough eyelid of the Molduga.

"Oh..." Rhoam muttered to himself as he quickly notched another one, but the Molduga had seen where he was and was on the move again with waves of sand kicking up everything in its way. "Shit!" Rhoam yelled as the beast leaped from the sand and into the pillar, shattering it and throwing Rhoam to the floor below...

* * *

 **The Wanderer**

It had been two days since she awoke in her bed without Rhoam next to her, which at first elicited little fear - she suspected he had gone to find something to eat or find a drink, but when he didn't turn up hours later she started to grow concerned. She knew he didn't just leave her because his family's sword was still in their room, but he was no doubt missing now.

Urbosa braved the midday heat, shrouding her body in garbs to protect from the sun before going out to the nearest inns he might have gone to. "Have you seen a man, tall, white, a Hylian with a blonde beard and hair?" She would ask the inn owners and anyone who would listen.

"If he's not fasting, perhaps you may check the pleasure dens? Many men wander there." One woman told Urbosa. She knew he wouldn't be there, never once had he gone to one of those places even when they had plenty of gold to spend.

Yet after awhile she found herself there, asking around to see if any of the men or women who worked there had seen him. They had not, and she wasn't sure if she was happy or saddened by that news. When the night came she returned to their room and hoped he would turn up, he didn't, and at that point her thoughts turned to the assassins from before and how they may have pursued them from the city.

Still Urbosa didn't give up her search, this time she was putting the word out that an escaped slave named Rhoam had gotten away from her and was wanted to be returned – unharmed, of course. Soon the word had been spread after she gave a few coins to the town criers and she spent the day searching and praying for him until the nights grew too cold to venture any further.

That morning she awoke to pounding upon her door, when she threw it open to the sight of several large soldiers she thought this might have been the end. She was happy it wasn't in fact assassins, but the woman they had helped earlier walked into their room. The explanation about who she actually was left Urbosa shocked and they had barely moved on in the conversation when the ground violently shook. The screams of the crowd outdoors brought both of their attention towards the town square where, to her horror, she saw Rhoam chained up and with a knife to his throat.

"Why did you do that!?" Urbosa cried to Makeela after she suggested Rhoam face the Molduga, but the Princess gave no answer, instead she brought them both to the Colosseum without so much of another word.

Seated next to the Princess now with Rhoam just entering the arena below, "You were not helping him. Now he faces an even worse fate."

Makeela sat rather relaxed against the cool stone benches, compared to Urbosa who watched anxiously as Rhoam strutted onto the field, clearly unaware of what he was about to face. "I wanted to see if it was true."

"If what was true?"

The drums began, sending chills of horror through her body. Makeela's eyes seemed to glisten as she watched with a devious smile growing across her face. "I wanted to see if he truly has the blood of gods."

"Blood of gods?" She repeated aghast, what was she talking about?

Makeela looked at Urbosa with wide eyes, a little taken aback by her words, "You don't know? I thought he would have told you."

"Told me what?"

"His name is Rhoam, that's the word you put out onto the street, correct?" Urbosa nodded to Makeela's words, "Well perhaps peasants would not know for sure. Rhoam is a Hylian, but clearly not a normal one..."

"He is a son of a Hylian Lord, I know."

"No, no, not just a Hylian Lord... A Hylian KING." Makeela stated, "It is known to those of higher society that the banished child of the King of Hyrule made his way to this part of the world. Many people have been searching for him, something he probably wasn't aware of." She began to explain, "Rhoam Bosphoramus of Hyrule, rightful heir to the Hyrule Empire. His Great Grand-Father was a Chosen Hero and his grandmother claimed to be the Great Goddess Hylia incarnate. He has the blood of gods in him supposedly, so I wish to see how powerful those Hylian gods truly are."

Urbosa was speechless, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Questions raced through her head as the Molduga entered the arena. The roar of the crowd meant nothing to her as she stared wide eye in horror, coming to the realization that the man she had spent all this time with was much more important than he let on. Was she angry? That was an answer she couldn't come up with right now...

* * *

 **The Banished**

Rhoam hit the sand hard as small pieces of pillar splashed about the field, his bow had dropped out of his hand and he was very disorientated about his whereabouts. Thankfully the Molduga was hard to miss, the giant creature was worming its way back into the sand when Rhoam pulled himself up from the ground.

Rhoam unsheathed his sword and made a brief attempt to cut into its tale as it moved into the ground but the whipping motion of it made it impossible to even get close to it without the risk of getting cut apart by its razor fin.

"Dammit!" Rhoam roared, looking around for his bow that he had lost in the fall. But after realizing it was likely destroyed in the fall he started to move to higher ground again in a hope to buy time to come up with some sort of plan. Upon pulling himself back onto another pillar he looked around the location, thinking it might be best to attempt to flee the arena but the exit was a vast swath of sand – which meant Molduga would have no trouble chasing him down. He second best option was to wait up on a pillar for Molduga to get tired and leave but he suspected the Gerudo up in the arena would likely start shooting arrows at him if they got bored.

Most of the pillars in the arena were either standing upright or shattered from previous fights, but one pillar caught his eyes towards the northern portion of the arena where one jutted out in a sideways fashion, tilted over slightly from the movement of the battle perhaps. It was perhaps a long shot but the only plan that was making sense to him at the moment.

He waited for the Molduga to circle and when it was at its furthest portion from him he leaped down to the ground, taking off to the northern area knowing the creature would soon be on his tale. And it was, he could hear the sand being pushed up behind him and the many pillars he dodged around being pushed aside like it was nothing.

"Alright, they want a show, let's give them a show!" Rhoam roared as he reached the northern area, the Molduga right behind him now. He ducked behind the jutted pillar as the Molduga leaped out of the sand, intending to try and swallow him up as it dived down. As the Molduga came crashing towards him the jutted pillar acted as a spear and the force of its own velocity doomed it - the Molduga swallowed up the pillar, or tried, as the jutted pillar speared directly in the back of its throat, breaking the pillar and causing the Molduga to collapse on its side with half of the pillar still deep in its mouth.

It flailed and whined as its red blood coursed out of its mouth and onto the sand, the crowd fell silent as Rhoam moved out of hiding. As the Molduga settled down from the blood loss he unsheathed his sword and plunged it directly into its underbelly, moving across it to gut the creature like he would if it was an actual fish.

The blood splashed onto the sand like a wave of water, followed by its innards and the repulsive smell they held. Rhoam laughed like a maniac, which was about the only sound in the arena as everyone stared in wonder. Rhoam pulled himself onto the Molduga's body and looked onto the crowd as a victorious warrior.

"Are you happy!?" He roared towards them, "Have I proven enough!?"

The crowd was in a mixture of reaction, some where in pure shock others even raged at what they hoped would be his death, but others had fallen to their knees in a sort of reverence towards Rhoam. Two signs of had been shown – the earth had shook and the great Molduga had been slayed. What he just seemly proved was that he was being protected by their Sand Goddess.

It took him a moment but he realized that many were bowing towards him and he was very taken aback, not since he was in Hyrule had he seen so many people bow in his presence. It was remarkable moment. No one spoke, not a single word or noise protruded this moment, just awe and wonder filled the crowd.

Things only became more strange from there, he moved through the Colosseum without anyone saying a word to him. They all kept their head bowed in respect to him. "Water." He demanded and the priestess complied, "Go, find the woman named Urbosa... she'll make herself known I'm sure. Bring her to me."

There weren't as many priestesses here as there were before but Rhaom paid little mind to that, he just drank the water down and cleaned what blood he could off him as he waited for the people to return with Urbosa.

Not long after they left they returned with her. Never had he seen such a beautiful sight as her, after all that had happened it warmed his heart to see her, "Urbosa, I- I..."

He was loss with words, her face was itched with emotion; perhaps she was unsure how to treat him anymore, perhaps she was angry for what he gotten himself in.

"Listen, I'm sorry about all of that. I didn't mean for any of that to happen, really," he was getting annoyed by her silence, "Would you say something already?"

"I'm not sure what to say. They are saying you've been chosen by the Goddess... you, I've never seen you worship anything but drink and coin." She said with a dismissive shake of her head, "But then, perhaps I don't really know you... Rhoam Bosphoramus of Hyrule."

He was lost with words, unsure how he knew that name and unsure how he should react. He felt almost guilty for it.

"...I had to protect myself." He defended his own actions, it was the only thing he could think to do.

"From me?"

Rhoam nodded, "What did you expect? Legally I was yours, you could make more wealth than you could imagine selling me off. It was the only choice I had."

The way they met was not entirely great either; the mercenary army he was part of was resting in a village when he met her on the streets. Having been out in the fields for a long time he was enchanted by her beauty, he followed her to an inn where they started drinking together. Urbosa challenged him to a drinking contest and that was the last thing he remembered of that night, the next morning he woke up beside her and for some reason he didn't leave right away, they talked and came to the radical agreement that they could make lots of money in the slave pits together. He left the mercenaries and rode off with her that day.

"We've been partners for awhile, you know, I wouldn't have just sold you like that." Would she, though? Rhoam still wasn't sure of that.

"Well... now you know." He said, finding a seat, his entire body ached of pain. "So what are you going to do?"

Urbosa fell silent, her eyes glancing between Rhoam and the door as if the two represented two different decisions. Finally she looked at him and spoke words the drowned his heart, "I don't know."

She turned for the door, Rhoam's screamed in his mind to stop her but his pride halted his tongue. In a mere moment she was gone, out of her sight... and his heart felt lesser for it.

A mere twenty minutes later the door came open, Rhoam stood from his seat at the hopes that Urbosa had come back, but alas it was not her. It was the Princess Makeela in tow with her many body guards, she had a great wide grin on her face while Rhoam's soured at the sight of her.

"What?" She asked at the look of his face, "No thank you?"

"Thank you for what? You sent me against that beast." He snarled back.

"I saved your life," she laughed off, "Although, I suppose the Goddess saved your life. Very impressive, I knew there was a reason we met when we did. It was destiny."

"Horseshit. You're an impulsive little Princess that got lost in the wasteland. No Goddess crossed our paths." As Rhoam spat out venom Makeela clapped her hands, ushering in a group of maids that placed down food for them to eat. Rhoam didn't touch it. "Leave me be, Princess."

He laid down on the bench and turned his back to her, he was intending on catching up on rest while he decided what to do with his life now. Makeela didn't seem to want to grant him his request, she walked right over and sat down next to him, laying her head around his shoulder.

"Now why would I leave when we've got so much to talk about?"

"I have no desire to talk to you, or anyone," he moved his shoulder to bluntly move her away from him.

"Oh relax, so down after such an amazing success. Blessed by the Goddess," she nearly twirled in excitement, "You know my Grand Mother would make sure you never wanted for a thing. Gold, drink, a harem of a thousand girls. My country needs you."

To Rhoam that sounded like a pretty good deal, but back among royalty again? That was what he left, he liked the idea of gaining that gold with Urbosa but without her the success seemed so hollow. He didn't answer, he simply ignored the temptations that the Princess offered.

"Hmm... what a shame." She finally seemed to admit defeat, "I will leave you to rest for now, but know this Prince of Hyrule – our fates are intertwined. I've seen it myself, you and I are among giants."

There was something so familiar about what she said, but he paid it little attention simply thankful that he was left in peace. Yet even still there was a nagging feeling, a feeling he couldn't quite place. He pushed it aside for sleep.

* * *

 **The Mouse**

Rat had fainted long ago during the harsh night that followed the brutal heist the Bombers preformed, but by some miracle he had hung onto his life so far. Mouse wasn't sure for how much longer though, his breathing sounded terribly weak and every time she lost track of his slow breathing she would check up on him to make sure he was alright.

Anju had fallen asleep while the chef dozed on and off throughout the night, but Mouse stayed wide awake, watching as her friend fight off death while feeling completely helpless to it all. Her head fell against the old wooden shelf, her eyes steady on Rat as she clasped her hands together. Her body felt tense as if every moment would be his last.

She thought back to the streets, with the sudden explosion and how quickly everything dissolved into chaos and blood. Orphans like her were shredded by that blast or crushed by the Goron and left on the streets for dead like trash. Then her thoughts turned back to the Goron who she gutted and she wondered if anyone was with him in his final moments to comfort him... she wondered what type of family she had destroyed in that act of brutality. Unlike that Goron no one would cry if she had died tonight, after all she didn't have a family, her family abandoned her long ago and obviously didn't care for her. She had Rat and that was it, orphans cried for orphans, but no one else would spare them any thoughts.

When sunlight peaked over the kitchen curtains it seared her sleep deprived eyes with vengeance of the gods, she rubbed them before ducking out of the morning rays. Figuring she was already up now she walked over to Rat's body, dipped a towel in the cool water and gently ran it across his sweat covered forehead.

"You're my best friend you know..." Mouse said to the unconscious boy with a soft sniffle. "I would be dead without you, a thousands times you saved me from my own stupidity. I don't know what I would do without you."

It was probably one of her earliest memories, she was deemed too old to live with the church anymore so they made room in their already crammed orphanage for more unwanted babies. They left her out in the cold and she was lost and unsure what to do, she stumbled around the west district figuring that death would take her quickly. She hid under one of the few trees in the district, shivering to the bone when a group of orphans came towards her.

She begged them for warmth, but instead they tried to steal what small amount of food she had. But she didn't let go, even when they threatened her with a knife, it was hers and she wouldn't let them have it. That's when Rat came, the bony little child came at them like a demon, wailing about and scarring them away from her. He grabbed her arm and led her to the nearest church where they hid the night in the rafters away from the harsh cold.

" _What do they call you?"_ Rat asked the small child as he broke off a piece of hardened bread he had been holding on.

" _I don't have a name,_ " she responded as one of the mice bravely stole a crumb of bread that had broken off.

Rat just laughed, " _It's small and bony just like you!"_ He said after it made a daring escape through a hole in the wall, _"I'm going to call you Mouse!"_ They had been together ever since, beating the odds and just trying to survive in this harsh city.

Tears welled in her eyes, she had thought she couldn't cry anymore but sure enough she managed to squeeze out some. But what was left after the tears was resolve, resolve to do more for Rat and make sure he survived.

Mouse found her way into Anju's office, the morning light giving just enough illumination for her to find her way around the desk. She wasn't sure what she was looking for because she couldn't actually read any of the words that were written down. But she understood the basics of how the ledger worked, how many people checked in which day (numbers on a calender she could understand) and she immediately went back a couple of days for when she and Rat spent the night in the kitchen.

There were three check ins in the building, one of them must have been the Ranger. Perhaps he had survived the fight and returned to the building, or perhaps he had some magical potion that could help heal Rat's wounds that she could find.

Grabbing the set of keys she made her way upstairs to the three rooms listed, banging on the first door she called, "Rusl! It's me open up!"

A voice shouted back, "Wrong room, get lost!" Well that was fair enough, Mouse thought, going to the next door and once again repeating her request. There was no answer, she tried again and after silence returned her request she took it upon her to enter the room with the keys.

The room was fairly dark and small, with a simple bed pushed into a corner and a desk on the opposite side. There was a chest for personal storage and a coat hanger as well but other than that the room was empty.

"Maybe he did die there..." It was the likely conclusion, she doubted even a Ranger could survive everything that place threw at him. "Well I guess you won't mind me stealing from you then." She went to the desk first, there were letters with words she didn't understand and a small pouch that, when she opened it, was filled with map tools and such.

She threw open the chest next which was largely empty, there was a thick blanket inside and a couple of bags. One was a bag of gold – which she pocketed – and another filled with small plants that were tightly bottled.

"Okay, so what do we have here?" She wasn't sure what it was but perhaps Anju might. Mouse was disappointed though, she thought the Ranger would have much more stuff that could help them. This didn't seem like his stuff at all really.

"Eh... who are you?" A voice suddenly caught her attention, she turned suddenly to see a man, groggy from sleep with untamed hair and a bushy beard, standing at the doorway with a puzzled look on his face. "You stealin' from me?"

It was then Mouse came to the hard realization that this wasn't the Rangers room. "Oh, um, room service?" She suggested to the man who didn't seem to buy her excuse. He stepped towards her, perhaps expecting to grab hold of the orphan quickly, but as he neared her she rounded right past him and darted to the door.

"Get back here!" He yelled starting to run towards her. This was not the situation Mouse wanted herself in at all, she couldn't leave the place because Rat needed her but she couldn't be caught either. She had a little bit of a head start now, she rounded the corner and the first door she saw she ran into.

It was unlocked, perhaps an unoccupied room, and very dark. Mouse wasn't paying attention to the room as she closed it shut and waited silently for the man to pass by, locking the door to make sure he couldn't barge in if somehow he figured out she was there.

It was then she turned back to the room, rather large with thick curtains blocking the windows, a size able bed in the corner and a bookshelf that was stacked opposite of a small fireplace that crackled lightly with fire. It was a little chilly and musky, like the window hadn't been opened in awhile.

"Anju, is that you...?" A weak voice spoke from in front of the fireplace. Mouse froze, unsure what to do and hoping that maybe she could slip right out before this person noticed who she was, "No not Anju... doesn't walk like her, can barely hear your steps... whatever I don't have much so nothing to lose. Stoke the fire for me please."

The frankness of the woman caught Mouse a bit off guard, but if she wasn't complaining Mouse didn't see the harm in stoking a fire. Kill some more time while she waited for that man to stop searching for her.

Mouse walked over, the light from the small fire showing the voice belonged to a gaunt old lady, her size partially concealed by the many blankets that wrapped over her and her face was tired and aged looking. Her hair though was well kept, brushed frequently which made Mouse think this was probably Anju's grandmother and she seemed to take very good care of her.

"You aren't of this place, are you?" She asked as Mouse picked up a log to place into the fire.

"I was born in this city." Mouse replied as she placed the heavy log into the fire, using some smaller pieces to help the larger was catch afire.

"Not hardly." She huffed, "When I was a small child like yourself the city was filled with tall, beautiful humans. Not so many Hylians or Gorons or Deku... they were good times, strong times with leaders that made sure Termenians came first."

So Mouse figured Anju's grandmother was a little racist, whatever not like she cared, "Well, I believe it." Frankly she wasn't sure what the big deal was, they were all rude to orphans so she didn't much like any – Human, Hylian, Goron or Deku.

"Do you have faith in the giants, child?" Most of the time Mouse slept in the rafters of one of their churches so she knew a lot about their faith. Plus the church would feed orphans so long as they sat for services so she had plenty of knowledge of them. But belief? Perhaps, she wasn't sure what she felt about it.

"We all come from the moon, and we shall return." Mouse quoted the line often repeated from the followers of the faith.

"Indeed, indeed," the old lady mummer, "There is darkness before the light, child." Those words sent chills up Mouse's back, it brought her back to the dingy Curiosity Shop where the old man muttered the exact same words moments after he opened the door to the terrifying scene of Deku locked up in shipping containers.

Mouse merely gave a weak smile, suddenly feeling this old lady was a bit less sweet than she might have imagined. She quickly muttered goodbye before deciding the halls were probably safe for now.

When she made her way back into the kitchen she noticed at first Anju was awake along with the chef, who was checking over Rat's wounds. "How is he?" Mouse asked as she quickly made her way to his side.

"He's still not conscious and I'm worried he's running a fever." Anju said as she fixed the ruffles of her hair, "I'm leaving to go get a proper doctor. It might be difficult to find as it's the Festival today but I'm sure I know someone who can help."

It hadn't even occurred to Mouse that today was the festival, there would be games and food and at night they would have fireworks that would light up the night sky and bring in the new calender year (which was a different year than the Hylians recognized). None of that mattered to her of course, she had much bigger things to worry about.

"I will go with you." Mouse said but Anju quickly dismissed it.

"I don't know what you kids got yourself into last night but I suspect the guards will be looking for orphans like yourself. You stay here out of sight." She wasn't about to tell Anju what they did, after all Mouse had killed a Goron. The guard would probably have her hung for that.

"O-okay..." Mouse nodded. As Anju left Mouse found herself helping the chef prepare breakfast for the inn's patrons, which was enough to help her distract from Rat's dire situation. She chopped potatoes for the soup while the chef baked fresh sweet bread that was fairly traditional for the city, the sweet bread was a sign of good luck for the people of the city and often eaten on the day of the festival.

When the doctor arrived the kitchen was masked with a smell of sweet bread cooking in the stone oven, which did wonders to cover the smell of gore that Rat gave from the side of the room. The doctor was a middle aged man, fairly built too with hair that was neatly brushed over to his side. Anju explained to Mouse as the man looked over Rat that he was a foot soldier during the war five years ago and treated wounded soldiers. Naturally the man had seen wounds like these before and hopefully he could help Rat.

"You did well to clean the wounds..." He said as he undid the bandages to examine Rat, "He's still in critical state. I'm going to give him potions of health to speed along him strength. He's already very undernourished."

He fed Rat the red potion through a small drip into his mouth, it was slow but it gradually made it way down until the bottle was almost empty. He changed the bandages and spoke to Anju privately about Rat while Mouse stayed at her friend's side.

Anju walked into the room, the look of stress she had seemed to age her many years. "What did he say?" Mouse asked.

"He's done everything he can, now it's up to Rat to recover."

Mouse looked over at her friend who's pale face made him look half dead already, "He's strong, one of the strongest people I know. He'll get through it."

Hours passed, lunch came and went and dinner followed from there. It was endless hours of nothing, but nothing was good because the longer Rat kept breathing the more it looked like he would survive this. Then an hour after Mouse had eaten her small dinner Rat's eyes opened.

"...Hey..." He spoke so softly his words could barely be heard. Mouse leaped to her feet and ran towards her friend, stopping by his side and resisting the urge to hug him.

"Rat! Oh gods I thought you were dead, you're awake though! He's awake!" She called towards Anju who had stepped out to check on her weird grandmother.

"Not yet," he chuckled. Anju came in and fetched him water, even she seemed pleasantly surprised that he was alive. Perhaps one good thing to happen to a woman wracked with problems.

After Anju had came and gone Mouse sat beside her friend, joking and laughing like everything was normal. Rat was staring off in the distance when Mouse softly poked his cheek.

"Hey, what are you thinking of," she asked, resting her head on her palm of her hand.

"I don't remember much from last night," he said squinting his eyes as if to see the memory before him. "I just remember the explosion and blinding pain. Why am I here? Why aren't I with the Bombers?"

Mouse was deeply conflicted, the Bomber had been the linchpin for them – they gave them a purpose and rewarded their efforts with rupees and food. But they had left them to die that night, the brotherhood was nothing and Mouse wasn't sure if she wanted anything to do with them again after what they did.

"Rat..." She began, her voice drifting off into silence as she thought about what to tell him, "Listen, you were right. That mission was so screwed up, like... really bad. I think our Bomber days should be over. We can survive without them you know? They were useful at first but we can get much more stealing on our own, and safer too."

Rat was far too weak to ask her anymore questions or to question the fact she dodged the question completely. "Yeah, that was screwed up." He laid his head back down, soon later he drifted back into sleep.

Mouse found herself back in the front of the inn along with Anju, helping her with the dishes that were left about the tavern portion of the building. "I've been needing some helping hands around here." Anju said as she swept up the mud and dust brought in from the travelers. "Perhaps you and Rat would like to help out?"

Mouse's was caught off guard by this, normally people didn't want anything to do with orphans like them but Anju had (almost) always been kind to them, and this was the perfect out for the two of them. "Y-you want us?"

"Sure, the two of you know this building well." She nodded, "You'd have to stop stealing from people though. Can't have that kind of stuff dragged into my building."

"Oh of course!" Mouse replied, giddy at the thought, "Yeah no problem at all! Never steal anything again I promise!"

"Good," Anju replied with her typical sweet smile, "Then consider tomorrow your first day."

"I mean, I could start tonight."

"No, no," the taller woman dismissed, "Tonight is the festival anyway. There will be fireworks, you can even see them from the rooftops. If Rat is feeling good enough maybe the two of you should watch them from there?"

"The festival?" It seemed to keep slipping her brain, "Oh gods, we don't even have masks yet!" It was traditional, at the start of the new year it was though that ghosts would rise from the earth and walk among the people once more. People without masks could be preyed upon, so everyone would go out around the city with masks on to keep them safe. Mouse wasn't sure if she believed that, but given she just killed a Goron she didn't exactly want that poor creature coming back for revenge.

"They're selling masks all around the square. If you hurry you'll get there in time and back." she swiped the plates from Mouse, "Go on, go. Get one for Rat too."

"Okay!" There was a surreal feeling, Rat had gotten through the worst of it and the two of them had been offered a place to work and stay. Perhaps next year would be better, perhaps even, she would feel like she actually had a family. She'd even learn to love the creepy grandmother, she thought.

Mouse was out in the streets, the cool night air was like a fresh breeze from the inn and the streets were filled. The closer she got to the main square the bigger the crowds became, people were dressed in exotic colors and masks of all shape, sizes and colors. Music and laughter filled the crowd, the smell of sweet smelling treats and sweat perfumed the air while confetti fluttered from the sky from flying Deku. It was an amazing sight that Mouse almost didn't realize what time it was, the huge clock tower was the center of attention – immense in size, it rose high into the sky with different floors filled with people. She couldn't see many from down on the streets, but she imagined they were the higher ups of society – the land owners on the first couple floors, and the old families on the top.

Mouse found a salesman peddling off masks to a couple with two young children, normally such a sight of family love would send chill down her spine, but now there was a feeling that perhaps things would be different for her.

"Hello child!" The loud peddler with red hair cooed, "You are without a mask! Hurry now before the ghosts rise, I have plenty that will fit you perfectly!" He exaggeratedly presented her with a mask adorned with bright pink flowers, which she gave a frown towards.

"That isn't me." She said, her eyes falling upon a mouse shaped mask with a long nose. It was too perfect, "That one!"

"A fantastic choice!" She dropped a couple of small red gems into his hand, and then picked out what she thought was a rat mask, but may have been something else. It had small horns on the head but the rest of it looked like a rat. "Have a wonderful night and tell your friends about the Happy Mask Shop!"

Mouse put her mask over her face and a smile showed itself, she felt like one of the people right now, not outside like usual.

As she walked away from the square and back towards the inn the first round of fireworks broke into the sky. There were two rounds, one before midnight and the other after the clock chimes. The fireworks broke into the sky with magnificent glory of colors, the crowd gazed in wonder and cheered as they flew into the air. Mouse just quickened her pace so she could get back to the inn before the second round of fireworks broke.

"Come on, come on, new year, new life!" She said to herself, vowing that she would never again find herself in a situation where the life of another was in her hands. She might even be a better person!

Suddenly the loud cracks of the fireworks were broken by an even louder boom that shook so violently that it threw Mouse to the ground. The first thing – aside from the sound – to be noticed was the intense flash of flame that covered the plaza before her. It was shaking, the explosion burst from the bottom of the Clock Tower and immediately consumed the first couple floors in flames that made the night before look small in comparison.

Only after the initial explosion did the screams of the crowd below register for Mouse, who knows how many people by the clock tower were consumed by the flames and rubble, but after the explosion the clock tower just began to lean on itself, briefly stopping as what remained of the lower floor tried to hold itself up...

It was a brief moment of calm, before the clock tower screeched and the upper floors came crashing down on the plaza below in a sudden, horrifying moment.

"Oh gods..." Mouse couldn't believe what she was seeing but the crowd before her was turning around and stampeding down to the streets to get away from the plumes of smoke that quickly moved around the plaza following the falling of the clock tower.

"Run!" People screamed as Mouse got to her feet and ran along the streets, trying to run from the smoke that seemed to move quicker than waves of water. Her legs couldn't outrun the smoke and soon it consumed her, the plume of smoke breathing against her back and filling her lungs with the choking material.

She threw the mask off her face and coughed violently, holding her sleeve over her nose to try and stem the flow into her lungs. People were on the floor, feeling for their way while others seemed to fall to the whims of the smoke. Mouse found herself against a building, the screams and cries of people were overwhelming her senses and she couldn't tell where she was going.

Mouse felt her way around until she came upon one of the manholes into the sewers, she hoped below would have been spared the worst of it. She knew the sewers and when she slipped below the smell of the waste was a welcome reprieve from the smoke above. She ran through, her mind racing in a panic as she wondered what exactly was going on – a pain in her stomach told her it had something to do with weapons they stole the other night.

One of the Bomber locations weren't far from here, perhaps she would slip over there to figure out what was going on. It would be safe there from what was going on in the streets. As she moved through the darkened sewers she could see a figure up ahead leaning against the sewer walls, she dropped low, figuring it was a Bomber watchman.

"Thirty-five-forty!" She spat out the code, knowing that they would be on edge. Yet no one answered her back, the figure just sat there unmoving. When she felt brave enough she moved closer to the figure and it became clear to her the boy was no longer alive. His wound was ghastly, a hole in his chest that soaked his lower body in his own blood, but he was clearly a Bomber.

"What is going on?" Her legs told her to run, they shook with adrenaline and everything in her told her to run. Shouts up ahead became evident, she peered around the side and noticed the lights of torches in the hands of close to a dozen lightly armored men – it was Clock Town guards. The Bomber location was a small clear in the sewers that they had used to direct messages to different operations, Mouse had been there once to deliver a pouch of information to the center, where the center once was filled with orphans coming in going it had been replaced by a grizzly scene of guards massacring the Bombers and gathering up all the boxes of documents that had been stored

"Clear the place out, come on!" One of the guards shouted as he wiped his bloody knife with silk, "They're putting up a fight at the main center, we're being called into reinforce them." Mouse couldn't reason why everything was happening while it did, how did they know about the main center? Why was this happening right now?

"Move! We'll come back to this," The senior guard ordered as the group began to move down one of the sewer corridors. Mouse found herself sitting besides the dead man in shock, her thoughts were like a waves bearing down on her, losing any direction in her thoughts to make any sort of logic as to what was happening. The simple logic was that the Bombers had done this, and that the guards were reacting to it – but it happened not even a half hour ago, and the guards were never this fast to react. She knew deep down there was more to this, and she knew she had to get far away from this place.

Mouse followed the opposite corridor, she knew safety would be in the Stock-Pot-Inn. Climbing out of one of the manholes about a block away she took to the streets again, which were shockingly empty. She imagined most people were hiding away right now, terrified of any further attacks taking place. What she immediately noticed was the huge plume of smoke coming from the town center where the clock tower had been consumed in a flurry of flames, but there was also smoke coming from the northern district where the government conducted their business. Was there more than one attack? What was going on?

She stumbled towards the back door of the inn, pounding her fists against the door until it swung open to Anju, who looked at her as if she saw a ghost. "Mouse! Oh gods, I thought you were dead. Come inside, quickly!" Anju pulled her into the inn, slammed the door and then brought her into a hug. Mouse couldn't contain herself, she just started crying into Anju's apron while her entire body shook in fear.

"There's so many dead!" She cried out, "And, and, it's just so crazy. This isn't right, none of it is!"

"Mouse," The voice of Rat called out, as he pulled himself up despite the pain he must have been in. He was as confused as everyone but he did not pester her with questions, instead he walked over and put his arms around her, "I'm so sorry."

They just stood there for awhile as Mouse cried, how could anyone comfort anyone after witnessing something like that. After that moment subsided Anju decided to politely excuse herself to go make a bath for Mouse who was covered in sweat, sewage and smoke.

As the water for the bath was coming to boil there came a heavy handed knocking on the door, the chef directed his gaze towards the front door and started towards it. Mouse didn't give it much thought until a voice followed the knocking.

"This is the town guard, open up immediately!" The words sent chills down her spine, the horrors of the sewers were brought back to her suddenly.

"No, don't open it!" She yelled, running from the kitchen and down the hall as fast as she could, and as she reached the main hall her heart plummeted, the guards had already been let in. Standing in their silver armor and armed to the teeth, close to seven men stood in the hall. They looked towards Mouse and she knew right there that they would grab her, no doubt they were hunting down all Bombers... yet to her surprise they looked away without giving so much of another glance.

"We're here for a Ranger who goes by the name of Rusl," The man said towards the chef who did not answer them.

"For what reasoning?" Anju's voice came as she came down to see what was going on.

"In relations to the attacks being conducted around the city. We know he's here." What did they want the Ranger for, none of this made any sense to her and the tense feeling made her stomach sick.

Anju glanced between the guards, Mouse knew that Anju had hired the Ranger to look for her runaway husband and no doubt was worried what this all meant.

"He checked out yesterday and hasn't been back sense. You won't find him here." Anju explained, lying to the guards, which Mouse was fairly surprised the sweet girl was capable of doing.

The guard -who was perhaps twice the size of Anju – stared at her, unbelieving of her words. "Seize her!" Two guards suddenly grasped her by the arms, the chef who stepped to protect Anju was quickly bent over by two other guards who pressed a knife to his throat. Mouse moved to run but one guard came upon her quickly, slamming her against the wall and holding her tightly there.

"Search every room, find the Ranger."

"Stop, you can't do this!" Anju yelled as the guards moved upstairs.

Mouse could barely breath, panic was seeping through her as the guards burst into the rooms above. One other moved down the hall to the kitchen where Rat was, Mouse flailed to try and get out of the guards grasp but the tightened grip was nearly choking her out.

"We can't find him, sir!" The guards shouted from above. The larger guard turned back towards Anju and with a sudden movement slapped the woman with the back of his hand, so hard that blood poured from her mouth. He seized her by the hair and demanded loudly.

"Where is he!?"

"Leave her alone!" The chef roared, throwing a guard off him and grabbing the other and tossing him into one of the tables. He charged towards the guards holding Anju with tremendous speed as if he was a bull charging, yet as intimidating as he was a spear quickly halted him in his track as the metal pierced into his gut.

Anju screamed, Mouse would have too if she could. The guard pulled the spear out of the man, spilling blood upon the floor and making the chef roll over to his side in agonizing pain.

"This inn is in direct confrontation with the state by harboring terrorists. It is too difficult to identify which are aiding this establishment... so I see no other choice, execute everyone and burn this place to the ground." The guard spoke such horrifying words, his reasoning was mere excuses, they were planning to torch this place all along, "The girl and her grandmother come with us."

"NO!" Anju screamed as the guards went about every room, the screams of the guests as they started executing everyone who had made it back (or never left) to the festival. Mouse acted quickly as soon as she saw a chance, the guard lightened his grip a bit and Mouse bit down hard, breaking skin and causing the guard to let her go.

She ran down the hall, flying towards where Rat was, she knew she would only have a couple of second before they would catch up but she was sure she could grab Rat and they could get out in time.

"Just finish this place off. We've got other places to go, come on!" The lead guard had taken his exit along with Anju while other guards were already going to work lighting the place afire. They wouldn't stop until all evidence of this inn was erased.

Mouse made her way down the hall and slid into the kitchen, "Rat, Rat we have to move!" She yelled, her hopes of escape were still a chance – until she came into sight of the area. Her heart dropped, as she saw the guard holding a knife to Rat's throat.

"You're next." The guard hissed before he drew the knife across Rat's throat in one horrifying moment. Mouse watched helplessly as the blood seeped from Rat's throat, his eyes staring widely at her as if to beg her to help, or perhaps to say one last goodbye. Mouse stared helplessly as the life left his eyes.

"Rat!" She screamed, aghast as she saw her only friend die in front of her. "No, no, no!" She charged the guard, letting a deep rage take hold of her. Mouse wished she was larger, stronger so that she could bring her friend revenge, but the guard overpowered her in a moment, smacking her to the ground and shoving his knee into her stomach to hold her still.

"Disgusting little runt, hold still!" Her readied his bloody blade, but as he brought the knife forward there was a loud 'thump'. A guard from across the hall was thrown, so hard that it knocked him out. Mouse stretched her neck to see who it was but the smoke from the starting fire obscured her vision.

"You looking for me?" A rough, cold voice spoke as a hooded man stepped from the shadows – undoubtedly it was the Ranger. His blade was drawn and bloodied. The movement was quick, the guard tried to react but the Ranger moved much faster and in a mere flash of the blade he had lodged his sword in the slits of the guards armor, spraying the thick red liquid all over the shiny armor the guard had on.

Two more guards in the room tried to stop him but were dispatched so quickly in seemed unnatural. The speed was needed as the fire was taking to the old house quickly, blazing across the main entrance and towards them.

Mouse was getting to her feet and preparing to go over to Rat's body when the arms of the hooded man wrapped around her and pulled him up. "Come on, we're leaving!"

"No, no, no!" Mouse struggled, "We can't leave him, we can't!"

"He's gone already you foolish child," He growled as he moved towards the back door, "And we shall join him if we don't move!"

"Leave me, I don't care, I don't!" She pounded at him as he kicked open the door, "Leave me!"

She watched as the flames consumed the kitchen, catching upon the body of her friend and wrapping itself over in its destructive fury. She screamed until her voice left her while Rusl carried her away to the nearest park where the wooded area was a welcome hiding place.

Mouse turned towards Rusl, her eyes glaring down at him like he was the murderer.

"You did this, they were after you!" She yelled, hitting at the larger man who did not budge to her anger, "You killed my friend!"

His face was shadowed by the darkness but his expression remained unmoving, instead he wrapped his arms around the crying girl and brought her closer.

"I'm sorry, Mouse." He merely said as she cried out, "I'm so sorry..."

From the edge of the forest they watched as the fire rose over the inn, even in the night sky the sight of the glowing flames across the city were evident. Whatever had happened in the city, whatever great force was on the move was wreaking havoc wherever it touched, one thing for sure was that the amount of innocent who suffered was immense, and the night wasn't even over yet...


	6. Part One Chapter Four (Pt2)

The final part for the last chapter of part one, it's a bit shorter than my normal length but keep in mind this was supposed to be one entire chapter. It would have been too long then! Enjoy

* * *

 **The Ranger**

It hadn't been long after the sun had risen on Lurelin when the pair of Rangers returned to the quiet village. The villagers had not ventured far from their homes in petrified fear of the creature's return, so when the two returned there was a watching and aghast audience to greet them.

Ezlo carried the Kinov in his arms, which in his heavy hands the child looked even smaller and fragile, while his skin had lost all its baby features from rot and poison that suffocated his veins it appeared he was holding a hallowed doll. It could be understood if the parents did not recognize their child at first, but as they approached their small house on the edge of the village (they had a small garden that the mother was diligently tending to) the parent's knew that the child they held was their own. Colin shut himself off from the emotions that were flowing through the village, from the crowd who had gathered to the father that cradled his dead child while the mother wailed in despair. It was a difficult thing to witness and each person in that village was no doubt imagining their own child in place of Kinov.

"I will return," Ezlo said as he ventured back to the room they were staying in for his supplies. Colin watched from the hill as they placed the child into a casket built for a much larger man and filled the inside with purple lavender leaves – the child looked like he was sleeping in a wave of purple once they were done with him. They placed the casket upon a small pedestal as the church's spiritual leader led the village in prayer.

It was a very spiritual and warming sight, the villagers surrounded the casket and placed a hand on each of each other, with the parents in the middle placing their hands upon Kinov's cold head, it brought the villagers together in a triangle of prayer.

"Farore, I ask you to welcome Kinov into your embrace. A child you set upon this earth and was stolen too quickly, I know you will take the place of his parents and guide him into an everlasting warmth." the priest began in his prayer, "I ask Nayru to give your guidance to all of our people, and especially the parents so that these wounds in our souls may heal from your soft words. Din, with your everlasting brilliance of this earth, welcome this child into the ground with love and wipe the darkness that took his life from this world with your fury."

It went on for awhile afterwards, the religion they followed was not the traditional religion that the Hylians promoted – it was different as it omitted the Hylian Goddess Hylia, who they believed was the Goddess they selected to look over all people. This was the religion that the Rangers supported and this was the religion that the Hylians wanted to erase so badly, the one that led to violent conflicts many centuries ago. Their customs were old, decentralized from the Hylian church and had small little unique differences in every village that practiced it. One thing that was prominent throughout all those who practiced it was the forming of the triangle during funerals in representation of the three goddesses they were calling upon.

Colin was just a child when the Boublin hordes descended upon these provinces and although the Rangers made sure he was far outside their reach he had seen the damage they had done. Many families never were able to have the burials like these, after huge battles it was often impossible to name the dead among your rank or whichever nameless hamlet they lived in – so the religious priests amongst the armies would bury them in mass graves. But among those few families that did get their dead back, Colin had seen these types of burials many times before, it was a time of spiritual healing and a holy moment that shouldn't be broken. During the height of the Ranger's reign there would be a Ranger in every village that could oversee and protect these proceedings, but since they were almost wiped out this was a traditional mostly forgotten...

Colin would stand by as a Ranger should though, to make sure the child was sent into the spiritual world without any interruptions. Ezlo appeared and took a seat beside him as the ceremony finished up, and when the villagers departed in their own directions they did too without a single word. They made their way towards the edge of the forest where they wouldn't be interrupted and constructed a fire pit, placed a great bowl over the fire and began to go to work preparing for the hunt.

"Watch closely now," Ezlo said as the water inside the pot reached scalding height, "four ounces of chu chu chelly per person, so eight ounces in." He poured the thick gelatine into the mixture, "Let it heat for approximately ten minutes. Afterward we mix in the essence of bladed rhino beetle – very rare, very dangerous to catch."

After the time had passed he mixed in the crushed bits of the beetle and let simmer for awhile before transferring the potion into bottles for them. "Go to the river and clean that good, we have more to make."

Colin did as he was told and when he returned they started making more, "A base of water as always, followed by the essence of the sunset firefly, fairly common, but it'll keep the next ingredient from killing us – Boboklin fangs, there were a fair few that joined in the raids five years ago, needless to say we stocked up while we could."

Colin tried not to think about the fact he would be drinking this stuff down in a bit, but he never questioned Ezlo, the man was a master of potions and had spent his long life perfecting them and writing in great detail about it – likely one of the best in the land.

"Careful now..." He dished out the new potion into a bowl, "This will cover your scent and make you invisible to four of our five senses – they will have to see you to know you're here. Drink it now."

Colin downed the potion without question, the taste was fowl and the feeling it gave his body was unreal. There was a painful moment where he thought he might faint but the pain subsided quickly.

"Now the other, this will make sure our strikes may pierce its thick armor." They drank down the other. Colin felt his veins bulge a bit and after he drank it all down he was sure he felt considerably stronger, perhaps even strong enough to hack away at a tree!

"How many people died trying to perfect these recipes?" Colin asked after that had packed up and pressed forward into the woods.

"Died?" Ezlo echoed, "A fair few, most just have terrible stomach aches until it subsides, but I know many had died of internal bleeding from a wrong mixture of ingredients. It's a science, a dangerous one, but it gives us an advantage over everyone else. We as Rangers can take more of the poison than most men." Rangers weren't normal, everyone knew that – monsters, demons, agents of the goddess, whichever that was believed it was certain that they weren't normal. It wasn't just training, different by their own genes, they were so much more enhanced in everyway when compared to the average person.

They moved through the forest, past the river and towards the old trees that sat in the distance. They spoke very little once they found their path and when they closed in on where they had battled the creature Colin's breathing seemed to slow to a halt.

The trees were heavily webbed, so tracking the beast wasn't difficult, it seemed to be trying to wall of its territory from outsiders but clearly had much work to do – large holes still were present in the walling of thick web that connected the old trees. It was difficult to see, the forest was dark from the great canopy of leaves and the trees were so dense that the Gohma could have been sat up there, watching them.

Ezlo pressed on though, sure that it was not yet around. "I caught the scent of its poison from before – I can't smell it now." Ezlo remarked as they pressed on. He seemed to be moving towards the even larger trees, under the belief that the creature (which had been wounded) would be hiding in a location that most reminded it of home. They came up towards a great tree, so immense in size at perhaps 90 feet wide and rose well over 100 feet into the air, Ezlo would have called this the 'center of the forest', the first tree that gave rise to all the others that surrounded it – all old forests had them.

"It's here…" Ezlo said under his breath, his eyes gazing up towards its immense size. The tree itself was not a rising behemoth and proportionate to its size it was more of a wide beast with parts of it that seemed to plateau before another great branch sprung up in another direction. But the webbing on it was clear, an immense branch was strung with countless canopies of web that indicated that this tree had become this creature's home.

"You go high…" Ezlo said, motioning over to the taller branches that moved over the large canopy of webs. Colin moved quickly, boosting himself onto the tree and using the slanted grooves within the tree to move quickly up it, with the potion his steps seemed so much lighter and his breathing far more controlled. He got up to the higher branch quickly and got his bow in hand, getting low to the tree he could finally smell the poison Ezlo.

The Gohma had fled into its canopy of web after the fight and was hiding, he caught sight of it curled up within the web – not aware of the Rangers approach. It became aware only once Ezlo approached it in plain sight, he was a large man and he had little choice but to cut through some of the webs to close the distance. When the Gohma caught sight of him it reared in shock, bringing itself low and watching him with careful eyes.

"You're a long way from home…" Ezlo said as he stepped towards it, "By murdering the people we protect you've broken our ancient truce, leaving me no choice but you take justice upon you."

Colin knew the creature would stand its ground, and Ezlo would have a difficult time drawing it out, but Colin had notched his arrow and would drive the creature out towards his partner now. He fired, the arrow flew through the air and came into direct contact with it wounds, sticking deeply into the exposed flesh and causing the Gohma to roar in pain.

Predictably, it charged Ezlo, who using his broad sword to bash it away – didn't appear to break the skin but the Gohma slid off the branch, falling towards the ground before using its own webs to catch its fall. It started lowing to the ground, intent on fleeing once more, but Ezlo was already in pursuit as he jumped from the branch, grabbed the web that the Gohma was stringing and sliding down towards the creature.

"Raaaah!" Ezlo roared as he positioned the sword down, catching the Gohma by the armor and cutting deeply into it. They fell the rest of the way, which was a fair drop as they both hit the ground Colin feared for a moment both had perished. Colin started to move down the tree, as thankfully Ezlo rolled up to his feet and grabbed his sword while the Gohma rolled around on the ground, reeling in pain.

Colin moved down the tree as quickly as he could without tripping and falling to a painful death, when he came to the lower branches he halted and fell to a knee, notching an arrow as he watched the Gohma and Ezlo fight. The Gohma had already taken a number of painful hits and was bleeding its acidic blood out of many wounds, Ezlo's sword was a finely crafted blade was the exposure to his blood seemed to be wearing the blade down.

Colin fired a shot into the Gohma, which made it rear back in pain with just enough opening for Ezlo to step in and shove his blade into the notch of one of its legs, driving the blade deeper into the creature before twisting the blade hard.

It cried out as Ezlo pulled his blade out, falling to the ground and twitching uncontrollably. It was on its final breath of life now. They had done it, killed this creature that had caused so much havoc as it went. Colin gripped out a small nearby branch and gave an approving smile down towards his mentor.

Ezlo was breathing heavily from the fight, his chest rising with every deep breath he took, when he looked up towards Colin he gave an expression of shock. It was then Colin could feel it, something was approaching from behind!

He turned quickly as what came charging from the nearby long branch was a Gohma nearly twice the size of the one they just killed. "Colin!" Ezlo roared out as Colin turned on his heal, letting off his arrow that flew off and made contact with the Gohma's eye. It didn't stop its charge though, and Colin couldn't move fast enough as it rammed straight into him with uncontrolled power. They both fell off the tree, its two front legs wrapped around Colin and pulling him closer to its venom dipping fangs.

Struggling against it was difficult, especially as they were now falling from the tree, and no matter how hard he pushed and shoved he couldn't stop it – he felt the sharp pain was the fangs dug through his leather armor and struck skin – then came the forceful impact of the ground.

The Gohma took the main impact of the ground and let Colin free once it did. The young Ranger went flying through the air, rolling on the ground before coming to a stop not far away. He didn't feel the effects of the venom at first, just a searing pain that arched across his right breast and shoulder from where he had been bitten.

But then it came in a deep wave of numbness, the voice of Ezlo calling with impossible to hear and the searing pain vanished into a void of sensation. His mind was groggy yet he was still conscious… but he felt without control, like there was something in his mind now.

The Gohma had turned on its feet and there was a lot more distance between Ezlo and the Gohma then between Colin and it. He looked towards the great Gohma, taking deep breaths as his eyes made contact with the creature's many.

" _I see you, Ranger."_ The words hissed through his mind like daggers, " _We did not want this! This is the Imps doing! But you murdered my brother, so now death is the only option!"_

The Gohma started to charge him again, he would have moved by his legs were becoming numb and not in his own control. He didn't even feel as Ezlo shoved him away and drew his blade towards the creature. The last thing he saw was Ezlo's sword meeting the Gohma, and the rest was darkness….

In that darkness was terror. He was standing on a rough ocean, with waves in the distance that tossed and turned with unnatural strength. Where he stood was peaceful and the waves felt almost solid, but cold and devoid of warmth.

"It's coming." A voice said to Colin, shifting his gaze to the right he saw a man shaded in darkness, her eyes white as pearls. On her exposed flesh were veins of darkness that seemed to grow up from her arm, choking off any life as it went. "I never should have brought you into this world…" she lamented, "So much pain, so much sorrow…"

"M-mother…?" For so long has he had this reoccurring dream, but never had she said anything that was remotely understandable until now. He didn't even know what to say at this point.

She looked towards him, her face twisted and demented, and the emotions of sorrow and dread seemed to bleed from this distorted look, "I'm so sorry."

The world crashed away, breaking like glass that he fell through. The darkness below swallowed him, covered him, cut him like knives and smothered him until he could no longer move nor breath…

And he stood before a great creature. Hung in a web of darkness, with a single light placed on himself as to illuminate the dark stage he stood on. What stood before him was a creature of nightmares, it looked like a massive Gohma, but like his mother its body was demented and twisted.

" _You can see me."_ It spoke. " _I can see you."_

It reached its long talon close to him, the long hairs on it seemed to almost caress his cheek like a mother's touch. " _The dark king will awaken. I saw you in the vision, but a false vision it must have been… for you will die now."_

"No…" Colin said, looking towards the creature with any strength he had left, "I do not wish to die… I cannot die yet…"

 _"The poison is in your body, and you cannot fight this."_ The creature said bluntly.

"Let me free from this darkness and I shall." Colin hissed, but the creature simply tilted its head.

" _You misunderstand, I am not holding you here."_

The creature shifted away from him, growing smaller as the light around him dimmed, " _I am sorry Ranger that your life must end early."_

"No!" Colin called, "Come back here, let me free from this! Let me free!" He cried out, the darkness gripping upon him tighter now as the light dimmed. "Please, please, I don't want to die!"

"Then fight!" The voice shouted before the light snapped shut, leaving Colin to struggle in the darkness that grew ever more powerful…

* * *

 **Part One Epilogue**

The lands of Hyrule had been described a million different ways in a million different poems, each writer trying to capture its essence in their words. Some did better than others, but all of them failed to capture it in any way; a land of vast fields, dotted with forests and great meadows of wilds flowers that many hundred of hamlets and villages called their home – it was fantastic, and just when you started to get tired of it all you would find a new location with new sights and smell that you had yet to experience.

This was everything that Tetra Bosphoramus had dreamed of. The third child of the King of Hyrule and up until now, had been kept within the palace – so she jumped on the chance to venture with her younger brother to Clock Town and the rest of Hyrule.

The entire journey around their domain could take close to a year, but she welcomed the chance to do so much - she wanted to see the great cities in Termina, wrestle with the great Gorons of the north and most of all see the beaches at the Great Bay, which Rhoam would go on for hours about how warm it was and how the culture and customs differed from theirs so much. However, after a few weeks of travel it became painfully obvious that it would probably take longer than a year for them to complete this journey.

Her young brother, Daphnes, the Crown Heir of the Hyrule Empire was doing his absolute best to make this journey as painful as possible. Every time they crossed a keep he would have their escort halt so he could meet the lords living there. Their Uncle had encouraged them stopping at as many notable Lords as possible, but at this point they were dining in halls little better than a peasant's household (her uncle rightly feared their host stopping might have drained the storage capacity of these small lords). Ancient Lords that had little claim to anything, one had gone on for nearly an hour about how his family had brought great victory to the Hyrule domain and when Tetra had asked which war that was he named one that had occurred perhaps six hundred years ago.

If that wasn't all of it, Daphnes would linger at their keeps as long as he could – especially if they had a library available then he'd venture into it and read as much as he could. It was beyond annoying and tedious, and their Uncle was losing patience as well. At some point he started making the decisions where they stopped at, much to the annoyance of Daphnes.

With her brother in a sour mood Tetra would ride ahead with her small group of guards just to get a breath of fresh air from the army they had. It was these morning rides that she enjoyed, when the breeze was chilled and the sun warm.

They had reached the province of Termina far behind schedule and stayed briefly with the Grand Lord that oversaw this Province. He wasn't happy though, because how far they were behind schedule he couldn't attend the largest celebration of the Festival of Time in Clock Town, but he kept the pleasantries up despite his annoyance.

The Royal contingent departed without the company of the Grand Lord the next day to continue out towards Clock Town where they would meet with a number of prominent families and maybe meet up with their cousin as well.

Tetra began each morning similarly, her army of maidens would enter her tent and pick out beautiful dresses of purple and white silk, then she would order them to bring her riding clothes. She would slip into the pants with leather lining, a white long-sleeved blouse and green riding jacket over it. Her maids, as they did every morning, would complain that she looked like a barbarian when she wore that and how mad her Uncle would be if he saw her like that.

But like every morning she would ignore their words and then ride off with speed, not many of her maidens could keep up with her, just two of the girls could ride as good as she and even then had difficulty keeping track. Four knights followed behind – one was a particularly handsome man with long blonde hair and deep brown eyes, a pointed nose and a strong jaw. He was young, early twenties and had pledged from an old family that lived in the capital, House of Raven. Tetra had grown very fond of him.

The other knights were far less handsome, older men (albeit, experienced) who looked far too gruff to fulfill the childish fantasy of the valiant knight. She couldn't even remember what houses they were from, but one of the men she thought might have been from House of the Raven as well (the older, less attractive brother no doubt). Each of them kept a close distance to the Princess, and armed with a spear and sword any traveler that got near them would quickly change course. No armor though, the knights would wear tunics with the colors of their houses they represented, much to the surprise of many knights were only armored if they expected combat.

They stopped as the helm of the forest with a river that ran into it. Tetra was laughing as the guards lagged her trail, rearing her horse around to face them. "I believe I almost lost you back there." She said, mostly to her handsome guardian.

"That you did, Princess," he replied with a charming smile, the other knights had an annoyed look on their face that told they were much less amused by her games.

"Well, shall we go further?" Tetra jutted her head towards the forest pathway and the worried look on the knight's faces told her that was not going to happen.

"Princess…" One of the older knights began, "We have put a lot of distance between the main host. We should wait for them to catch up, otherwise we will worry the group."

"Ah, such an old man to say that!" She said with no respect towards the man and his honor, "We will ride further."

"Princess, if I may," Raven began, "Now shall be a good time to rest. The pathway in the forest is narrow and it will slow our host down. We should enjoy this sun before we're under the canopy of leaves for long periods of time. We can get some breakfast going and perhaps you can sing whilst I play the flute once more?"

Her pale white cheeks gave off a blush that flushed her face. He was a magnificent player and together they would make the most beautiful music. All of her maids were stifling childish giggles as to halt themselves from showing Tetra's obvious affection for the young knight.

"Sir Raven you should be a diplomat with that silver tongue of yours. You convinced me, we shall rest."

In hardly any time did the knights dismount and prepare a small camp fire. They had a basket of fruit and one of the knights caught some fish in the nearby stream very easily. As the fish cooked Raven had brought out his flute and began a soft melody that carried over the breeze like a wave, complimented by the rustling trees and chirping birds.

"The cold fist of gold,

A man naught of soul,

Strolled to the pearl river,"

Tetra began the haunting melody.

"Land naught of soul,

People naught of gold,

Drowned in the pearl river,"

The song was an old one, telling of a human king that ruled his small kingdom by the river. The King began to fear his neighbors and pressed heavy taxes upon the people, the farms under produced and through a combination of unusual weather the land was struck with famine – but the King continued his search for gold. When the King's man entered a village to retrieve their tax from a rebellious hamlet they led the men and boys down to the river and, upon the King's explicit orders, drowned them.

Tetra loved the melody, it was haunting and full of emotion and it went well with the soft flute Sir Raven would play.

"I have never heard a more beautiful rendition of that song before," Raven said after she had finished. Tetra hid her blush and took a piece of fruit.

"Obviously, sir, you have not seen much theater." There was a chorus of laughter from her group, amused by the Princess's sharp wit.

"That was very sweet sounding," a sudden voice spoke. It was unusual and Tetra – nor her knights and maidens – had spoken it. It brought the knights to their feet, seizing their weapons and turning towards where the voice had come from.

It was a man, who had seemly just emerged from the tree line, with a pudgy stomach, stained white shirt, plain pants and head that had but small patches of hair on it. His smile was crooked, and his eyes, which were fixated on Tetra, gave an almost simple to look to him.

"No further," The Knight said gruffy, "We are knights of Hyrule, you shall be moving along immediately."

The man didn't even look at the knights, he just raised his hand to his head and scratched what was left of his hair. "Would you sing again?"

Tetra felt deeply uncomfortable by the way he stared at her, and was relieved when Sir Raven put himself between them and drew his blade out. "Say another word and lose your tongue, peasant."

"I bet ya you'll sing when you see this." Tetra drew her gaze away as to not see what the man spoke of, but it was enough to enrage her protector.

"Insolent!" Tetra's handsome knight roared as he moved towards the man. But before he could reach the man to defend her honor, a sudden silver flash flew by her and before she could see what it was the pained roar from Raven rang loudly. An arrow had found its place deep in his side and had caused him to fall to his knee. The pudgy man had drawn a nasty looking knife and burst through the brush towards Raven while several other arrows flew towards the other knights.

"Move, move!" Words rang as people moved from the edge of the forest. Two of her knights charged towards the bowmen before being confronted by a number of men who came from the tree line. One of Tetra's maidens had fallen to the ground, screaming from an arrow that had found its way into her chest while another was simply crying in fear.

Tetra dropped down to her friend who had been struck by an arrow, "It's not bad, it's not!" Tetra said as she cupped the girl's hand in her own. The sounds of death was another sing poets could never really capture, they speak of the screams and the blood but none she had read wrote about what it was like to hear the final breath they would take – like they were trying to gasp for another, but their body would die in the middle of it.

Her friend's grip lessoned and her life was gone. Tetra cried out as more died around her, too frightened to look over her shoulder to see what was going on she buried her face in the blood-stained dress that her friend had worn.

Suddenly a hand seized her shoulder, she screamed in pure fear.

"Princess!" Came the voice of Sir Raven, he had been wounded from the arrow but his sword was steeped in blood, no doubt having taken the life of the man. "We have to move, now!" He gestured over to the hill where more bandits were crossing from, the only open pathway was the one into the forest.

"But-" She started, looking over to try and find the other knights but it was difficult to tell who was alive still.

"Now!"

Sir Raven moved quickly for someone who had been shot by an arrow as they followed the path that hugged the stream. It was the route away from chaos, with the sounds of fighting in the background diminishing the further they went.

They came to an opening where the river widened towards a waterfall that funneled the water downhill and through the vast forest, "Sir, what do we do?" Tetra asked as the knight braced himself against a tree, holding a hand to his side where the arrow protruded out of.

"We will keep moving, keep low and hidden. The main forces will arrive soon to drive these bandits away." Raven said between breaths, "I… I need water…"

Tetra took his hand and let him lean upon her as they made their way to the edge of the river, he fell to his knees and cupped water in his hands. His hands shook terribly and the water he cupped in his hand was red with blood, so Tetra took water within her own hands and let the wounded knight drink from it.

"Can you move?"

"Yes, yes… until my last breath." Crackling laughter broke the small moment of peace. Tetra turned around to see several men emerge from the trees on all side, cornering them with the river to their backs. There was little doubt in Tetra's mind they had walked right into their hands now.

"Princess, across the river, go!" He pushed her along and she ran, hoping the water would not be too bad. It was a small river, never rising much beyond her knees, yet the pushing of the water made it extremely difficult for her to move quickly.

"Go!" Sir Raven shouted, close behind, "Go-" His voice was caught off when an arrow pierced his shoulder from behind, the force of it pushing him down into the river.

"No!" Tetra shouted, tears building in her eyes. Her knight had not fallen yet, he leaned upon his sword and faced the bandits who began to slowly move towards them, laughing as they went.

"A Princess, fist of gold!" One of the men shouted out with laughter.

"Heart full of soul!" Another one called, mocking the song she had just song.

"Strolled into the pearl river." They approached the knight who had gotten to his feet now, one made a movement towards his side hoping to catch him off guard.

"Your left!" Tetra shouted and Sir Raven turned with a quickness, bringing his sword around and cutting into the side of the man. It was deep, but would have been far deeper had he the strength, the bandit cried out and the others took this moment to seize him by the arms. He struggled valiantly, but the knights head was pushed below the water.

"And now they drowned in the pearl river!" They were laughing, laughing like maniacs as they drowned her knight. His life and honor meant little to them as he kicked and struggled. Tetra moved to help him but other bandits put themselves between them, knife drawn and motioning for her to come closer.

"Come here, girl!" One of the men said with a crooked smile.

"No further, no further!" She screamed, "Do you know who I am?" She threatened, her heart racing as they came closer.

"Halt!" A voice shouted over the laughter, quickly quieting the men. They even stopped drowning the knight, letting him up to breath. The voice who gave the order came from a man on horseback, he was different from them, neatly dressed in a soft blue and white tunic, with long brown hair and dark eyes, the man was well groomed and seemed of higher class.

He dismounted his horse, slipping off his leather riding gloves before stepping to the edge of the river. "And what did you intend to do to her?" He demanded towards the men. "Unharmed… UNHARMED, we said!"

"We weren't goin' do nothin' permanent or nothin'," one of the men to his left grumbled, the well-dressed man turned quickly and slapped the man – hard. A man twice his size took the slap like a child, backing down and not saying another word.

"You act little better than Gerudo." He moaned glancing down to the river as if to think if it was worth stepping into. He took the step, wading into the water and coming towards them.

"Sir," Tetra began, "Sir, I am Princess Tetra of House Bosphoramus. I have an ARMY that will be here soon, so-"

"I know who you are, child." He said simply, "I remember when you were born, too. But you are right, you have an army close, which is why time is not something I have right now…"

He reached his hand out to her, "Now come."

"Princess, don't!" Her knight called, the man made a glance towards him with a bored eye.

"You may finish him." With that the men plunged him back below the water.

"Stop, please stop!" Tetra shouted, the thought of watching her poor knight brutally murdered was far too much, "I will come with you, just let him live!"

The man made a subtle look towards him and then back at the Princess, "Dear Princess, you will be coming no matter what."

She was helpless to save him, Sir Raven kicked and struggled until he body became limp and lifeless. Tetra wept as they let his body go, the water carried it right by her before sweeping it over the waterfall. The man was stepping towards her now, arm extended. She stepped back towards the water fall, finding her footing at the edge of a rock that sat close to the edge.

"Now, now, no further." The man cautioned, "That is not a drop you will survive. Come with me and you will be unharmed, that I promise."

Tetra looked down into the water below, her heart was racing and fear deepened through her every bone. She did not want to die, nor did she want to be in the hands of these murderers. Her legs were shaking and her body felt helpless to what was happening around her, "Come." He said once more, placing one leg on the rock she stood. He was close enough to her that he could potentially reach her now.

She did not look down once again, she kept her eyes fixed on the man as she spoke."Long live Hyrule."

She took a step back and watched as the man made a move to grab her, but she fell back off the waterfall and into the cold water. She did not scream nor make any sort of last minute prayer, Tetra simply closed her eyes and awaited the impact…

* * *

I know, I'm no song writer but I gave it a shot haha, apologies on that. But anyway that wraps up part one now, it's a deep, dark story and I've enjoyed my time writing it so far, hope you guys have enjoyed it as well. Thanks!


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